{"id":72356,"date":"2025-05-29T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/?p=72356"},"modified":"2025-06-19T17:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T21:28:22","slug":"samuel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/samuel-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Above all, fear the LORD and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.
\u20141 Samuel 12:24<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a young man growing up in a temple run by overtly wicked men, Samuel saw a lot of what not to do. He witnessed the debauchery, disobedience, and blatant disregard of Eli\u2019s sons as they disgraced their profoundly holy positions as priests. Samuel saw how their actions harmed the people they were supposed to be carefully shepherding, and he was given a prophetic message about the outcome of Eli\u2019s sons. How different could their entire family\u2019s legacy have been had Eli\u2019s sons considered what God had done for them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see the experiences of Samuel\u2019s adolescence echoed in his passionate pleading during his final public address to God\u2019s people. From Eli\u2019s sons to Saul, Samuel has experiential knowledge of the cost of disdaining God\u2019s way. As Samuel considered the outcomes of this disobedience, he said, \u201cDon\u2019t turn away to follow worthless things that can\u2019t profit or rescue you; they are worthless\u201d (1Samuel 12:21). Samuel had learned that all of these other things that were tested in place of God\u2019s wisdom\u2014the idols, the wayward actions, the insistence on going their own way\u2014were worthless because of how they hurt others and left none of the satisfaction they so emptily promised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comparison, when considering all God had done, Samuel\u2019s response was, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don\u2019t turn away from following the LORD\u201d (v.20). Even after the betrayal God\u2019s people inflicted upon Him, God did not ask for them to be afraid of coming close; in fact, He declared that being near to their God was best for them in their sin. God offered His character as the certainty they could base their lives on, as Samuel said, \u201cThe LORD will not abandon his people, because of his great name and because he has determined to make you his own people\u201d (v.22). The outcome of God\u2019s way is the glory of His name and a confident, unshakeable identity as His chosen people. From the time of Moses and Aaron, God\u2019s faithfulness has not wavered and His intentions have not deviated: Humanity will give praise to God alone, and they will belong to Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re reading this to start your morning, think of how your day could be changed by considering what God has placed before you. We can enter each task, each conversation, or each struggle already saying, \u201cGod has done great things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re reading this in the middle of your afternoon, think of how it\u2019s never too late to recenter your heart on His truth. We can always, always begin again with \u201cGod has done great things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re reading this to close your day, think of how many breaths filled your lungs and how many mercies guided your feet. As you count each up, how good does it feel to say \u201cGod has done great things!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Above all, fear the LORD and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.\u20141 Samuel 12:24 As a young man growing up in a temple run by overtly wicked men, Samuel saw a lot of what not to do. He witnessed the debauchery, disobedience, and blatant disregard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":72156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pitot"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72122],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#HeReadsTruth","devotional_text":"SAMUEL<\/b>

\r\nby Kayla De La Torre<\/i>

\r\n

Above all, fear the LORD and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.
\u20141 Samuel 12:24<\/em><\/p>
\r\n

As a young man growing up in a temple run by overtly wicked men, Samuel saw a lot of what not to do. He witnessed the debauchery, disobedience, and blatant disregard of Eli\u2019s sons as they disgraced their profoundly holy positions as priests. Samuel saw how their actions harmed the people they were supposed to be carefully shepherding, and he was given a prophetic message about the outcome of Eli\u2019s sons. How different could their entire family\u2019s legacy have been had Eli\u2019s sons considered what God had done for them?<\/p>
\r\n

I see the experiences of Samuel\u2019s adolescence echoed in his passionate pleading during his final public address to God\u2019s people. From Eli\u2019s sons to Saul, Samuel has experiential knowledge of the cost of disdaining God\u2019s way. As Samuel considered the outcomes of this disobedience, he said, \u201cDon\u2019t turn away to follow worthless things that can\u2019t profit or rescue you; they are worthless\u201d (1Samuel 12:21). Samuel had learned that all of these other things that were tested in place of God\u2019s wisdom\u2014the idols, the wayward actions, the insistence on going their own way\u2014were worthless because of how they hurt others and left none of the satisfaction they so emptily promised.<\/p>
\r\n

In comparison, when considering all God had done, Samuel\u2019s response was, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don\u2019t turn away from following the LORD\u201d (v.20). Even after the betrayal God\u2019s people inflicted upon Him, God did not ask for them to be afraid of coming close; in fact, He declared that being near to their God was best for them in their sin. God offered His character as the certainty they could base their lives on, as Samuel said, \u201cThe LORD will not abandon his people, because of his great name and because he has determined to make you his own people\u201d (v.22). The outcome of God\u2019s way is the glory of His name and a confident, unshakeable identity as His chosen people. From the time of Moses and Aaron, God\u2019s faithfulness has not wavered and His intentions have not deviated: Humanity will give praise to God alone, and they will belong to Him.<\/p>
\r\n

If you\u2019re reading this to start your morning, think of how your day could be changed by considering what God has placed before you. We can enter each task, each conversation, or each struggle already saying, \u201cGod has done great things.\u201d<\/p>
\r\n

If you\u2019re reading this in the middle of your afternoon, think of how it\u2019s never too late to recenter your heart on His truth. We can always, always begin again with \u201cGod has done great things.\u201d<\/p>
\r\n

If you\u2019re reading this to close your day, think of how many breaths filled your lungs and how many mercies guided your feet. As you count each up, how good does it feel to say \u201cGod has done great things!\u201d<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"25","scripture":"1 Samuel 2:12-26, 1 Samuel 3:1-21, 1 Samuel 12:1-7, 1 Samuel 12:13-25","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}