The Harvest of Your Righteousness

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Pete

A cursory read might have you think that Paul was the first to preach a prosperity gospel. You know, a “give to God and wait and see how much He’ll give to you” version of the good news.

The financial need among the saints in Jerusalem was great, and as Paul connected with different churches in Asia Minor he wanted them to give greatly to meet that need. And so, Paul urges the Corinthian church toward great generosity. In the midst of that encouragement, Paul seems to play a “you give to God and God will give to you” card.

Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity . . .

(2Corinthians 9:10-11a CSB)

Give and it will be given you, Paul says. The One who owns all things and provides all things will take your giving and also provide and multiply your seed and increase your harvest and you will be enriched in every way. Sounds like a quid pro quo proposition to me. But here’s the thing, Paul’s not talking about reaping a physical harvest, but the harvest of your righteousness.

What’s more, he identifies the fruit of that kind of harvest.

Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

(2Corinthians 9:10-13 CSB)

The promised return on investment — the harvest of your righteousness, says Paul — was the harvest of the fruit of thanksgiving to God. It was the abundant reaping of overflowing expressions of thanks to God. Though they might never hear the appreciation directly, their generosity would be credited to their kingdom accounts as the Jerusalem saints gave glory to God for their obedience and generosity because of the gospel.

That’s the promised “prosperity” returned for our generosity; God is glorified. That’s the treasure laid up in heaven for our generous obedience here on earth — God made much of because of our small acts.

So many other motivators that might compel us toward generosity. But is there any greater than that it might bring glory to God? Thinking not.

Oh, that our hearts would be set not on the harvest of material things, but on the harvest of your righteousness. A righteousness found only in Christ. Generously sown in us and through only because of Christ.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

(2Corinthians 9:15 CSB)

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Tim

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Pete

For others, they debated Him simply to try and trip Him up (Mark 12:13). But for a group of Sadducees, they had a theological bone to pick with Jesus. For them, the resurrection was problematic. It didn’t make sense. For them, it didn’t mesh with some of Moses’ teaching. Case in point? A hypothetical scenario where a woman who, over the course of her life, ends up married to seven different men, all who die prematurely. Thus, their question; if there really is a resurrection, “when they rise, whose wife will she be?”

And something in Jesus’ answer to those skeptics 2,000 years ago brings tremendous assurance and comfort to this believer concerning the loss of a friend less than a week ago.

Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised ​— ​haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.

(Mark 12:24-27 CSB)

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were long gone when Moses stood that day barefoot before the glory of God. Yet, Jesus points out, God was still their God. My friend, Tim, breathed his last on earth this past Saturday morning. Yet, even now, he too stands before the Glory. For God is still His God, as well. For our God is not the God of the dead but of the living.

Nothing pretty about death. Nothing easy about saying goodbye. But, for those who are His, nothing permanent about it either.

Death is defeated. Because Jesus rose from the grave and lives forever, those who have been redeemed through His blood will live forever as well. As Paul would put it, mortality will “be swallowed up by life” (2Cor. 5:4b). Thus, for those who know Jesus, we can say “we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2Cor. 5:8). And that’s because our God is not the God of the dead but of the living.

He is the God of Abraham, who lives. He is the God of Isaac, who lives. He is the God of Jacob, who lives. And He is the God of Tim, who lives.

Oh, to know the Scriptures. Oh, to believe the Scriptures. Oh, to live, now and forever, in the confidence of the Scriptures.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Unimaginable Crazy!

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Pete

Thousands! Saul had slain thousands of Philistines with the troops under his command. A reluctant leader at first, he had come into his own, giving the people exactly what they wanted — a king over them like all the nations, one who would judge them and go out before them to fight their battles (1Sam. 8:19-20). He was a success by any worldly standard of measure.

But therein lies the rub. Saul sought worldly fame over God’s pleasure. He was more interested in men’s applause than God’s commands. Thus, he fawned over the press clippings of his military might rather than faithfully worshiping the God of His fathers. While he may have been known on earth for his calculating strategies, he was also known in heaven for his prideful, sin-tainted sacrifices.

So, when the primary measure of a man is found only in the eyes of other men, thousands are only good enough as long as someone else isn’t racking up tens of thousands.

As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. As they danced, the women sang:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.

Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?” So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

(1Samuel 18:6-9 CSB)

Thousands. Not enough when someone else is credited with tens of thousands. Then, it’s only thousands.

Rather than thanking God for His favor on the battlefield, Saul was consumed with fury that God would favor someone else as well. Rather than rejoicing in the victories he had won, Saul was ravished with resentment towards a young man he could see only as a rival. Jealousy would rule Saul’s life from that day forward.

And here’s the thing that I’m chewing on, how unchecked jealousy can lead to unimaginable crazy.

The next day an evil spirit sent from God came powerfully on Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear, and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.

Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.

(1Samuel 18:10-12 CSB)

Saul knew the Lord was with David. Yet, what does he try to do? He tries to pin David to a wall with a spear, that’s what. Multiple times! Tell me that isn’t crazy!

Discontent with his thousands, Saul becomes irrationally focused on but one — the Lord’s anointed. Nutso!

Disconnected from God, Saul would increasingly become disconnected from reality. Consumed with the need for worldly recognition, he would go to wacko lengths.

Hmm . . .

Oh, to be content to seek but a “well done” from an Audience of One. To look not to others to see how I fair in comparison, but to set my eyes on Jesus alone, that He might count me faithful in whatever my hand finds to do (1Cor. 10:31).

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Paying Attention in Order to Avoid the Yoke

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Pete

Kind of a powerful one-two combo this morning. Set up with a left jab in the New Testament and then taken out with a right hook from the Old. 2Corinthians 6:14 teaming up with Psalm 101 to remind me that walking in the way of integrity is not just about a momentary decision but about a lifelong determination.

First, the left jab . . .

Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe.

(2 Corinthians 6:14a CSB)

Pretty familiar verse for many of us. However, for many of us it was mostly a “how to date” verse. But in the context of Paul’s letter, it probably is better understood as a “how to live” verse. Be careful not only of who you’re yoked to, but also of what you’re yoked to. Be aware not only of partnering with unbelievers but also of walking in their unbelieving ways. Stay away from allowing your ways and your walk to be informed by those who are idolaters — those whose ways serve someone or something other than God and whose walk is directed by an allegiance and hope outside of God. Don’t do it, says Paul. Don’t become partners with those who do not believe.

But how do you do not do it?

At first, it might seem like a pretty simple, singular act of the will. See an unequal yoke, avoid the unequal yoke. Recognize where a partnership with an unbeliever is being considered and stop considering it. May not be easy, depending on the heart’s desire, but it would seem simple.

Okay. We’ve ducked the left jab, let’s move on . . .

Then comes the right hook . . .

I will pay attention to the way of integrity.
When will You come to me?
I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.

(Psalm 101:2 CSB)

David’s desire above all desires was to know the presence of God. And, though he doesn’t use the term, he knows that an unequal yoke would get in the way of that desire. For, as Paul would put it, “What agreement does the temple of God have with idols?” (2Cor. 6:16a). Thus, in order to be connected to the reality of God’s glory, David would pay attention to the way of personal integrity. Far from a one-and-done decision to not be partnered with the wrong partner, David’s song reveals an on-going diligence and determination to deal with anything that might entangle him with an unequal partner.

I will not let anything worthless guide me.
I hate the practice of transgression;
it will not cling to me.
A devious heart will be far from me;
I will not be involved with evil.

(Psalm 101:3-4 CSB)

Nothing worthless is going to guide me. Practicing transgression won’t cling to me. Involvement with evil will be foreign to me. Far from a one-and-done decision, David readied himself for a now-and-always determination.

Read on and David says he would destroy “secret slanderers”, that he wouldn’t tolerate those propelled by pride (v.5). In addition, he would bar those who acted deceitfully from working for him and wouldn’t hire those consumed by lies to counsel him (v.7).

David determined that every morning he would clean house. To remove all that was wicked and wipe out all that would promote evil (v.8).

Remaining unequally yoked would mean constantly paying attention to the way of integrity. It would mean regularly dealing with the encroaching ways of the world and the enticing allure of idolatry.

The righteous walk, it would seem, is more than just a left jab. In the power of the Spirit, it will mean daily going for the knock out punch with the right hook.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Better Felt Than Tell’t

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Pete

Finished my readings this morning with Psalm 100. Chewing on the last verse. Savoring the last thing read this morning.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and bless His name.
For the Lord is good, and His faithful love endures forever;
His faithfulness, through all generations.

(Psalm 100:4-5 CSB)

Not much to say as I reflect and meditate on God’s goodness. As someone once told me years ago, “Sometimes things are better felt than tell’t.” Amen!

By His grace. For His glory.

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Pragmatism and Power

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Pete

Chewing on King Saul this morning. Actually, he’s kind of gnawing on me.

First “aha”? Saul reigned as king longer than David did. Unlike my ESV, the CSB translators (along with the NASB and NIV translators) believe there’s a “typo” in the manuscripts they used for translation, so rather than talking about what Saul did after reigning “two years” (ESV, NKVJ), the CSB records that “he reigned forty-two years” (1Sam. 13:1) That’s in line with the inspired commentary found in the book of Acts (Acts 13:21).

So, Saul’s forty-two years on the throne surpassed David’s forty (1Ki. 2:11). Surprised me. Somehow Saul’s reign makes more of a “flash in the pan” impression on me than a generational era of leadership. Maybe that’s because things started going south for Saul relatively quickly after coming to power. And my observation this morning is that the little bit of leaven at the beginning of Saul’s reign, which would spread through the whole lump of his reign, was pragmatism.

Being pragmatic; we tend to view that as a good thing. After all who wouldn’t want to be known as being sensible, realistic, and practical? But when it comes to the things of God, when it comes to ways higher than our ways and thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:8-9), maybe being practical is, at the end of the day, being sinful.

Case in point, 1Samuel 13 and Saul’s pragmatic approach to seeking the LORD’s favor.

The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. . . .

Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear. He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering.

Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him, and Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, I thought, ‘The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

(1Samuel 13:5, 7-12 CSB)

Situation desperate. Soldiers terrified. Lord’s presence needed. Samuel running late. What’s a commander-in-chief to do? Well, because he’s the commander-in-chief, pretty much anything he thinks is necessary. Whatever’s practically needed. “Bring me the burnt offering!” says Saul. “What have you done?” says Samuel.

He was just being pragmatic.

But pragmatism has a way of placing oneself at the top of the food chain, putting our wisdom over God’s ways, doing what’s realistic over doing what’s right. Thus, pragmatism has a way of introducing a slippery slope when what’s sensible is contrary to what God has said. Chart Saul’s life and his “I know best” attitude and the resulting disregard for the priesthood, manifested in “just” the sacrifice of what only a priest should sacrifice, eventually devolves to the point where he slaughters a whole city of priests themselves, “both men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen, donkeys, and sheep” (1Sam. 22:11-19). Pragmatism and power, it seems, can be a nitro and glycerin combination.

Later, after another act of disobedience by King Saul, Samuel would ask him, “Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice.” (1Sam. 15:22). And, I’m thinking, to obey is better than pragmatism.

After all, what makes sense about a King who would bear a cross before donning His crown? How realistic is it to save the world with a message the world considers foolishness? How practical is it to run an institution where the greatest of all is a servant of all or were the first shall be last and last will be first? How pragmatic is it to bet on our strength being realized in our weakness? Not very!

But oh, how it displays the purposes and power of God.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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Even More Glorious

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Pete

It was becoming an either / or proposition within the church. This town wasn’t big enough for the both of them. Corinth wasn’t big enough for the apostle Paul and the “super” (aka false) apostles (aka Judaizers). Someone had to go. Many in the Corinth church thought that someone should be Paul. Paul determined he wasn’t going without contending for the Corinthians’ affection.

But for Paul it wasn’t just a popularity thing, it was a divine dynamics thing. It wasn’t about Paul being accepted; it was about the way of the Spirit being embraced. And so, at the heart of this most personal of Paul’s letters is the glory of the gospel and his desire that it be even more glorious.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God — not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

(2Corinthians 3:1-3 CSB)

Paul wasn’t going to “sell himself” again. He wasn’t going back to trying to gain their confidence nor earn their trust. They were the living proof of his legitimate calling. They were Paul’s letter of commendation because they were Christ’s letter testifying of a new covenant, a new way for God to be among His people and for His people to dwell in His midst. They were a letter not written with ink which perishes and fades, but with the Spirit of the living God who abides forever. A letter not written on tablets of stone as Moses had brought down from the mount but written on tablets of human hearts by the One who was raised from the dead. And Paul springboards from this thought of tablets of stone vs. tablets of human hearts as he reminds them of his ministry and contends for the glory of the gospel.

[God] has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

(2Corinthians 3:6-11 CSB)

Many in the church, it would seem, were being persuaded by smooth talking, Paul slandering “apostles” of the way of Moses. Speaking of a way that sounded good, because, for its time and purpose, it was good. A way of glory because the glory shone through the face of Moses, the man who delivered it. But Paul reminds these Corinthians that what had happened to them when they received the greater Moses, Jesus, was more glorious . . . overflowing with even more glory . . . making the way of Moses now inglorious in comparison because of the glory that surpasses it . . . thus setting aside the way of Moses with the way of the Spirit, a way that endures forever and will be even more glorious.

Glory . . . glorious. More glory . . . even more glorious. The glory of the gospel. That’s what Paul cared about most.

The church’s response and rejection of Paul was more in line with tablets of stone. But Paul contended for them because what he wanted to prevail was the glory of the good news that had been written on tablets of human hearts. The glorious, good news brought about by the ministry of the Spirit within the souls of men and women. The gospel of greater glory because it revealed not only how to live with God in their midst, but how they could be conformed to the image of God through His Son, the One who know now lived in and through them.

The division and discord within the Corinth church was veiling the glory. He wanted the veil removed.

For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 

(2Corinthians 3:14b-15 CSB)

The glory of the gospel. It’s what’s wired within the DNA of the church. It’s what written on our hearts. O, that God would remove the veil of our fleshly ways, so that the glory might be even more glorious.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Shouldn’t We Smell? (A 2013 Remix)

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Pete

Decided to randomly go back 10 years ago and see what I was chewing on this day in my reading plan. Kind of struck by it — both nostalgically and convictionally. So, thought I’d re-work it a bit and re-post this morning.

I’ve got to admit, I have it pretty good. I call Sue as I’m leaving work at night, drive 25 minutes, and, on most nights, when I walk in the door I smell supper ready to be served. Sometimes, I know what’s for dinner the moment I enter the house. Other times, I get to play with the smell from the kitchen and try and guess what Sue’s cooked up for our evening meal as I walk down the hall. It’s a blessing to walk in the door after work and smell supper on the stove. But I’m reminded by Paul that it’s a greater blessing to bring an “aroma” into a place yourself. After all, shouldn’t we smell?

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things?

(2Corinthians 2:14-16 CSB)

The fragrance of Christ, that was the air about Paul. There was a sweet smell that wafted around Paul as he shared the gospel; as he told of the good news of a Savior who died for men’s sins; of a Shepherd who sought lost sheep; of a Sovereign who was establishing a heavenly kingdom. It was more than the words from his mouth, it was the Word living in and through him (Gal. 2:20). Less about his oratory, more about his “awe-atory.”

Paul could imagine himself as a fragrance among others and as an aroma before God, a reference, I think, to the sweet-smelling aromas of the Old Testament sacrifices. Paul, offering his body as a living sacrifice, emitted a pleasing savor which rose to the portals of heaven. A fragrance of life for those who had ears to hear (or, perhaps, noses to smell), but a fragrance of death to those determined to have an allergic reaction to the things of grace and truth.

And while I know that Paul is writing specifically of his unique calling as an apostle to the Gentiles, I can’t help but make application to the guy sitting in this chair. How am I smelling? What’s the nature of the odor that fills a room when I enter? What scent is being diffused with my presence? What bouquet do I possess for others to pick up?

But these questions are so not about me in many ways. For, asks Paul, “Who is adequate for these things?” Implied answer, “No one!”

I can’t produce the perfume. I can’t fake the fragrance. Only as Christ lives in me will His precious scent be diffused from me. Only as I yield to the Spirit’s sanctifying work within, will the aroma of Christ’s ways be picked up by those without. Only as God’s Word is taken in, so will the sweet savor of God’s grace be poured out.

Who is adequate for these things? Not this guy — but God alone.

Yet shouldn’t we want to bring an aroma into the room, the aroma of Christ? Shouldn’t we want to smell a bit? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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God Is Faithful Even When Life Isn’t Fair

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Pete

I dive into 2 Corinthians this morning knowing what’s coming. I’m ready again to read one of Paul’s most personal letters. One in which he pours out his heart because his heart has been broken. Personal because the Corinthians have made it personal as they push back not on his message but on his motives. Questioning his call as an apostle not because he didn’t align with scriptural truth, nor because he hadn’t served them faithfully, but because he seemingly paled in comparison to those who had come into their midst promoting themselves as super apostles.

So, because I know what’s coming, because that filter is on, something I read in this opening chapter captures my attention. Something that we all know and isn’t going to surprise anyone. Something, however, which if you chew on it for a bit, reminds us that God is faithful — even if life sometimes isn’t fair.

Indeed, this is our boast: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom but by God’s grace.

(2Corinthians 1:12 CSB)

Later in the letter, Paul’s going to get into how distasteful he finds it that he must “boast” before these Corinthian believers (11:16-21). But “boast” he must. His qualifications and character having been called into question; he finds himself having to defend himself. And he begins with the “testimony” of his conscience.

As far as Paul knew his own heart, he had tried to live out his life, before the world and before these believers, with godly sincerity. Not that he claimed he had ministered with perfection of action, but that he endeavored to conduct himself with a grace empowered purity of intention. And justice and fair-play would have us think that the best of intentions should have been rewarded with the best of intentions. That Paul would have been gladly received by these believers he had served so patiently and faithfully. Instead, he was rejected. Hmm . . .

Sometimes life isn’t fair. Times when what you might expect as the fruit of your labor isn’t what’s realized. Times, in the moment at least, where there appears to be no quid for the well-intentioned pro quo. Times when sincerity of conduct is met with suspicion of character.

So, what do you do with that? You keep on reading in 2 Corinthians.

Remembering that the God of all comfort comforts us (1:3-4). Reminded that even at our best we’re but jars of clay (4:7). Recalling that we’re in the midst of a spiritual battle and “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (10:8). Reassured that if we’ll conduct ourselves in sincerity of heart by God’s grace, that His grace will be sufficient, and His power will somehow be manifest in our weakness (12:9).

And so, Paul who’s boasting from the very beginning of his letter is still boasting towards the end.

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(2Corinthians 12:9b-10 CSB)

Sometimes life isn’t fair, but God is always faithful. Sometimes things don’t seem right, but the righteous — those righteous not in themselves but in Christ — are never forsaken (Ps. 37:25). Sometimes the testimony of our conscience will have to be enough, knowing that on that day the trying of our works will be just (5:10).

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Service and Sanctification

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Pete

This morning the CSB gives me explicit permission to walk down a path the Spirit would seem to be prompting me to explore.

By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

(1Samuel 2:26 CSB)

By contrast. You’re not going to find those words in other translations. And so, in other translations you might miss the juxtaposition of the rebuke of Eli’s sinful sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and the Spirit’s commentary on the growth of Hannah’s set apart son, Samuel. But not in the CSB. It’s clear that all three boys are talked about in the latter part of 1Samuel 2 for the express purpose of contrast — for their comparison and for our consideration.

If I can use the term, Samuel evolved while the sons of Eli devolved. He advanced, they atrophied. He grew in consecration to the Lord; they grew in contempt for the Lord (2:17). Thus, He found favor with the Lord, while the Lord purposed to put them to death (2:25b). By contrast.

And not to overly simplify, nor to ignore other factors like Hannah’s earnest desire to dedicate her son to the Lord (1:11) while Eli was content to grow fat off the sin of his sons (2:29), but I’m chewing on a thought which points to at least one root cause for the stark contrast between the boys. It’s the connection between service and sanctification.

What caught my eye was that the Spirit records that Samuel “served in the LORD’s presence” (2:18a) before He makes sure we know that Samuel “grew up in the presence of the LORD” (2:21b). Is it too much to think that Samuel’s service was directly connected to Samuel’s sanctification? I don’t think so.

Practically speaking, the child Samuel didn’t bring a lot to the table. Not much to offer in terms of strength, skills, or scholarship. Nothing really to put on his resume when it came to work or wisdom. But what Samuel did bring however, even as child, was himself. Samuel served.

So, I want to suggest that it’s because he served in the LORD’s presence — even before he had a lot to serve with — that he grew in the LORD’s presence.

Samuel served the LORD, thus he grew in the LORD. Because he worked with what he had, to him more was given (Lk. 19:11-26). Because he was faithful with little, he would grow in the LORD’s presence much. It’s the way of the kingdom. It’s the way of the church, “for those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus” (1Tim. 3:13).

Eli’s boys, on the other hand, served themselves. They enlisted in extortion in the name of the Lord to feed their physical appetites (2:12-17). They engaged in exploitation through their position in the Lord to feed their lustful appetites (2:22). But God is not mocked, what they sowed they would reap (Gal. 6:7). And so, while Samuel served and grew in favor with the Lord, Eli’s boys sinned and fell under the Lord’s serve discipline.

Service and sanctification. I’m thinking there’s a connection.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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