OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR JANUARY 19, 2023 (LEARN FROM OTHERS)

TOPIC :LEARN FROM OTHERS

MEMORISE: (1 Samuel 15:11)

“It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.” –

READ: 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 (KJV)

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

MESSAGE
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. – (1 Samuel 15:11)

The first time I read the passage above, it was shocking to me that God would repent. I had read passages in the Bible like Ezekiel 33:14-16 where God said if He says to the wicked that he will die, but the wicked changes his ways, then He wouldn’t let him die anymore. However, what is mind-boggling about Saul’s case is that this is a different kind of repentance. Of a truth, Saul was a very humble, diligent and responsible young man before he became king.

In (1 Samuel 9:3-4), his father sent him on an errand to search for some missing animals. Saul kept searching and was determined not to return home until he found them. God is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8), He knows the end from the beginning (Acts 15:18); how can somebody like that repent of the decision He had made? One day, the Lord used the scripture below to provide an answer to my question:

Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. – (1 Corinthians 10:11)

All the stories we read in the Bible, even some of the things happening around us today, are supposed to be lessons to us. One could therefore say that He looks for scapegoats to use to teach others a lesson. Now, there are two questions you should ask yourself from this revelation: first, are you really learning lessons from the examples that God has given you in the Bible and around you?

Have you learnt from Judas Iscariot’s case that greed can destroy a person both here and in eternity? Have you learned from Samson that sexual sins will reduce a strong man to a piece of bread (Proverbs 6:26)? Have you learnt from the examples around you?

REFLECTION: Are you currently indulging in sin? What can you learn from the Bible about the repercussion of that sin?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 11-13

HYMNAL: Hymn 6 – I am so glad that our Father in Heaven

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