Thursday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 12:20-24
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. 21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.
23 “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you.
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. 21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.
23 “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you.
Commentary:
12:20 While Samuel reassures the repentant people, he does not brush aside their wrongdoing: “You have done all this evil.” Their fundamental mistake was not in seeking a king but in the mind-set (or rather heart-set) motivating their request. What matters now is to maintain a clear and uncompromised commitment to the Lord under the new regime. Negatively, they are not to “turn aside from following the LORD” (“from after”; cf. comment on 12:14) by conforming to the beliefs and practices of the Canaanites or relying on human strength and acumen for their security. Positively, they are to “serve the LORD with all your heart,” a call echoing the well-known words of Moses (Deut. 10:12; 11:13).
John L. Mackay, “1-2 Samuel,” in 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. III, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 137.
John L. Mackay, “1-2 Samuel,” in 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. III, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 137.
Questions:
After Israel recognized its sin, Samuel told the people not to be afraid, but to turn back to the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. Then he reminded them of something remarkable: “The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people”. Israel had been unfaithful, yet God had not abandoned His people. His commitment to them rested on His own character and faithfulness, not on their record of perfect obedience.
What do you believe it means to be a good Christian? It's easy to reduce our faith to sin management: stop doing bad things, do more good things, and try harder whenever we fail. We start measuring our relationship with God by our performance. When we're doing well, we assume we're close to Him. When we fall into sin, we feel like we've lost ground and need to work our way back. Even our efforts to grow can become a way of trying to prove that we're good enough for God.
But the gospel isn't about working our way into God's good graces. It's about learning to live as people Jesus has already brought into His family. Brandon shared three theological aspects of our salvation. Through justification, we have been saved from sin's penalty. Jesus bore our sin and gave us His righteousness; our standing before God rests on His finished work, not our own performance. Through sanctification, we are being changed as the Holy Spirit works in us, helping us turn from sin and grow in obedience. Through glorification, we look forward to the day when sin will be gone completely. We have been saved, we are being changed, and one day we will be free from sin's presence completely.
Justification means we don't have to earn God's acceptance every time we fail.
Sanctification means grace isn't an excuse to remain unchanged, because we belong to Jesus, we learn to live in a way that reflects Him.
Glorification reminds us that our present struggles aren't the end of the story.
We won't reach perfection in this life, but we also don't have to surrender to sin as though nothing can change. The same grace that saves us is at work in us, teaching us to live differently. These three truths should change how we approach both sin and growth. We don't confess to convince God to love us again. We confess because He has already called us His own, and we want to walk in the freedom He has provided. We don't obey to secure our place in the family. We obey because we belong to Jesus. And we don't have to hide our struggles to protect our standing with God. We can bring them into the light, receive help from other believers, and pursue change without pretending we've already arrived.
God isn't opposed to effort; He's opposed to earning. Following Jesus takes real obedience, discipline, confession, and perseverance, but those things are the fruit of His work in us, not a payment for what He has already done!
What do you believe it means to be a good Christian? It's easy to reduce our faith to sin management: stop doing bad things, do more good things, and try harder whenever we fail. We start measuring our relationship with God by our performance. When we're doing well, we assume we're close to Him. When we fall into sin, we feel like we've lost ground and need to work our way back. Even our efforts to grow can become a way of trying to prove that we're good enough for God.
But the gospel isn't about working our way into God's good graces. It's about learning to live as people Jesus has already brought into His family. Brandon shared three theological aspects of our salvation. Through justification, we have been saved from sin's penalty. Jesus bore our sin and gave us His righteousness; our standing before God rests on His finished work, not our own performance. Through sanctification, we are being changed as the Holy Spirit works in us, helping us turn from sin and grow in obedience. Through glorification, we look forward to the day when sin will be gone completely. We have been saved, we are being changed, and one day we will be free from sin's presence completely.
Justification means we don't have to earn God's acceptance every time we fail.
Sanctification means grace isn't an excuse to remain unchanged, because we belong to Jesus, we learn to live in a way that reflects Him.
Glorification reminds us that our present struggles aren't the end of the story.
We won't reach perfection in this life, but we also don't have to surrender to sin as though nothing can change. The same grace that saves us is at work in us, teaching us to live differently. These three truths should change how we approach both sin and growth. We don't confess to convince God to love us again. We confess because He has already called us His own, and we want to walk in the freedom He has provided. We don't obey to secure our place in the family. We obey because we belong to Jesus. And we don't have to hide our struggles to protect our standing with God. We can bring them into the light, receive help from other believers, and pursue change without pretending we've already arrived.
God isn't opposed to effort; He's opposed to earning. Following Jesus takes real obedience, discipline, confession, and perseverance, but those things are the fruit of His work in us, not a payment for what He has already done!
- Think about what happens in your relationship with God after you've had a season of obedience versus a season of repeated failure. Do you approach Him with confidence when you're doing well but pull away when you've struggled? Where have you been treating your performance as the measure of your standing with Him, and what has that mindset been producing in your life?
- Justification means your standing with God rests on Christ's finished work; sanctification means He is still changing you; glorification means sin will not have the final word. Which of these truths do you most need to understand right now? How might your response to a current struggle change if you stopped trying to earn God's acceptance and instead pursued obedience from the security of belonging to Him?
- We have to stop hiding behind self-reliance and start living from the identity Jesus has given us. Where are you still trying to manage your sin through private effort rather than depending on the Spirit and receiving help from others? What would taking responsibility for that struggle look like without treating your efforts as a way to earn God's favor? Identify one specific step toward change and one person who could help you follow through.
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the ways you've treated your relationship with God like a performance to maintain.
- Thank Jesus for bearing the penalty of your sin and giving you a secure place in God's family.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart and habits so your daily life reflects your identity in Christ.
- Ask God to give you the humility to seek help, the courage to confront sin, and the faith to keep growing without returning to shame and self-reliance.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
6. Is the Bible God’s Word? Jesus proved He is God by rising from the dead and said the Old Testament was God’s Word and gave authority to the Apostles to write the words of the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that all the words of the Bible are God’s Word.
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
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