Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
Memory Verse: Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 1John 5:3
If you live in Africa or were brought up by an African mother, you will find out that one of the things they are most particular about is not doing anything that will bring shame to your father’s name; same as household name. Some parent seat you down to explain how they took over from their parents and have kept the legacy going hence you as a child need to continue in the same manner else you are setting them up for shame.
Often those conversations come from parents who have some sort of reputation to protect and are more concerned about the child’s possibility of ruining the reputation and will ensure they do all to prevent the occurrence. What we find out is that the advised children sometimes get so determined to the point where they get independent and forget everything their parents advised. They get involved with all sorts of people, imitate bad behaviors and what not, until they get to a point of no return and even worse is that when things go bad, everyone in the family suffers and their parents protected name and reputation eventually get tarnished.
This is the case with the Children of Israel. It would have been easy to think they should have known God better and understood that He loved them. It would have been easy to think that because of that love, they would have known what would please God and continue to walk in this ways. The Israelites were however known to be stubborn children who had never been stable with God. They enjoyed the benefit God gave them and then turned back to do various things that insults God. One of the many ways was how they thought they could manipulate God and use the ark of God as a savior during battle 1Samuel 4:3. Not only did they fail on that mission and lost the battle to the philistines, their decision also brought shame and disrespect to God as the philistine took the ark to God and set it by a god (dagon).
Some Christians are like the Israelites, finding it difficult to decide if to be with God or with the world. They begin to switch from time to time until they get caught up by the things of the world. The world is very enticing and we are in it, we get attracted to the vanity all over the world and eventually start conforming to worldly ways just to blend in. It remains important to know that a child of God is not created to blend in, a child of God is set apart. The devil knows this and therefore his battle and struggle is to make sure he gets us to a point where we completely get carried away by the things of the world. The devil tried enticing Jesus too, and we can see from the scriptures when he tested Jesus the third time by showing Him the glory of the world but Jesus knew that Satan may be the ruler of the world John 12:30, but God is the maker of Heaven and Earth therefore Jesus was able to tell the devil “Get out of here, Satan,” Matthew 4:10a.
Like rebellious children who have no understanding of God our Father, we bring shame to Him when we allow the things of this world to entice us so much that we begin to go against what please Him. In doing so, we make it obvious that we love the world more than we love God, 1John 5:2.
There is no comparison or questions around the God’s superiority, He created everything and therefore He is the No1. If being a child of God does not make us feel complete then nothing else in the world can or will complete us. Giving up eternity for temporary pleasure is driven by greed and like the children of Israel we could lose a lot of privileges even more than we can ever imagine as we see they lost the presence of God being represented by ark of covenant.
No child who brings shame to the family is embraced even with the earthy parents. God is merciful so He has given an opportunity for repentance through the blood of Jesus but that is not a license to continue in a path that brings shame to His name. We are representative of God when we call ourselves Christians therefore everything we do should reflect the family we belong to. We are Royalty and cannot afford to get caught up in the mud therefore it is important from the moment we give our lives to Christ to start dwelling in the presence of God so the Holyspirit can begin teach us the do’s and don’ts of being born into a royal family.
Have you lost your way? Have you lost your royal privileges? then take the opportunity of being alive today is an evidence that God is still interested in giving you an opportunity to return to Him. Get reinstated into your rightful position. Jesus is the only one that can give you peace, no amount of running around will do that and He is saying “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for another wonderful word from your throne
- Help me Lord to be a true disciple and representative of you on earth
- I lay aside every weight that pulls me down, and I renounce everything in my life which discredits and tarnishes your name
- I receive the power to trust in you totally and see all the signs around me that you will prove yourself
- Help me not to waver in faith or doubt you, help me to believe soundly in you
- Forgive me of all my shortcomings O Lord and let your mercy prevail over judgement
- Thank you Lord for answers to prayers, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
