Joel M Bradshaw

14If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORDyour God, it will be well. 15But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.–1 Samuel 12

In a speech similar to ones Moses gave in Deuteronomy, Samuel laid out the national policy. It was going to be either obedience or rebellion. God also therefore promised that he himself would be against them if they rebelled. Generations later when the nation is attacked by Assyria and Babylon, Bible students remember moments like 1 Samuel 12.

Thanks to later prophets like Joel and Isaiah, we cannot simply reduce matters to outward obedience. For true rebellion involves the heart. So God wants the heart of a man which in turn leads to outward obedience. The outer you flows from the inner you.

So what is your story? Do you live life as a rebel before God or as an obedient servant? Today’s text grabbed ahold of me, as well.–JMB