AT WHAT COST?

“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.” – I Samuel 8:11

MAIN TEXT:

I Samuel 8:9-20

Israel had God as their Monarch, but they soon envied their neighbors ruled by kings. These kings wore rich clothes, lived in regal buildings, rode strong stallions, and majestically led their armies into battle. Impressed, Israel felt having a king would earn them regional respect. They clamored to have their own king. What they did not know was that it would come at a cost.

God, through Samuel, told Israel that He would give them a king, but they would soon be fed up with him and would regret their choice. They were impressed by the glitz and glamor of having a king but did not realize it came with a heavy yoke. Their maintenance and absolute power came at a cost. The king would take their fields, servants, and sheep, and they would lose their freedom. He would tax them and take their children to serve his whims. They would only have duties; they would not have rights. All of these contrast with the government of God that gives and gives. Israel would get what they desired, but they would also get what they did not bargain. In fact, it got so bad that a later king (Rehoboam) said, “My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! …whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’”

There are things we envy in people and desire to have that God does not want us to have because it is not in our best interest. They may look glamorous, but they come with pain and at a price. People have insisted on their way, and it cost them their peace, sanity, job, marriage, and the morality of their children. Someone’s shoes may look beautiful and desirable, but you do not know it gives the owner blisters. Israel wanted a king like other nations to judge and lead them to war but did not know the ‘blisters’ (painful cost) associated with it.

The grass often looks greener in another person’s compound, but we do not know what it costs them to maintain it, what green snakes lurk under, and on a closer look, it may not be as green as you think. There are things God forbids for His children that Gentiles do and go unpunished. They date married men and seem to live comfortably, driving posh cars; they put their hands in deals that land them cash, but the story behind them may not be palatable. All that glitters is not gold. I know you want the marriage, money, relocation to Europe, etc., like others, but at what cost? What is the counsel of God on the matter? Israel got a king but lost their God.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

Jeremiah 2:13, I Kings 21:1-3, and Mark 8:35-36

PRAYERS:

+ Lord, teach me contentment and to rejoice in my apportioned lot in this life.

+ “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” – II Cor 10:12. PRAY AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF ENVY AND COMPARISON.

+ Lord, I declare that You are my sufficiency.

+ I do not want whatever You do not give me; will not want to go where You do not send me; will not take what You do not assign to me, and will not generally displease You.