I've been reading 1 Samuel which is mostly about the rise and fall of Israel's first king, Saul and his successor, David. Saul had disobeyed the word of the Lord given to him through the prophet Samuel and this rebellion against God gave rise to what might be the most heartbreaking verse in the Bible: ". . .the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul. . ." (1 Samuel 16:14). Ponder that for a moment; let the implications of that sink in.
Can you imagine anything worse than the loss of the sense of God's presence in your life? We need not doubt God's unfailing love for Saul and for us but Scripture teaches us that willful disobedience to God can result in God withdrawing from us the sense of His presence.
It seems that Saul never recovered what God removed but we can if we are willing to humble ourselves, repent and cry out for God's forgiveness. That is exactly what Jesus came to provide for us; a means for recovering from our rebellion against God through faith in Jesus.
There's no reason to lose the sense of God's presence through disobedience but as the Bible says, "if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." 1 John 2:1.
1 comment:
"the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul. . ." (1 Samuel 16:14). Ponder that for a moment; let the implications of that sink in."
Indeed, fellow readers! Let that sink in. The scripture reference is the definitive definition of 'emptiness.'
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