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| I Samuel 12.20, 23 (NIV) “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord. . . . As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” |
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| Our commitment to pray for people struggling with sin will significantly impact their spiritual growth. When we let them know we are supporting them with our prayers, not only will they grow in their faith, but we will also experience the encouragement we need to persevere.* |
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The Children of
Israel stand accused and ready for judgment. We might say that Samuel took the
high road in not condemning them for the evil they have committed. But more
than that, we see that he chose to take the higher
road – he encouraged them, he counseled them, and he interceded for them. As
their spiritual leader, Samuel vowed to pray for them and to teach them what
they should be doing. His instructions to them included: don’t be afraid; serve
the Lord; don’t turn to idols. And he reminded them of the dire consequences of
persisting in their evil behavior.
There are a
couple of common mistakes we make when dealing with a wayward child of God. The
first is to condemn him and to require penance from him. We want to make sure
he suffers for his sin so we impose penalties that God never sanctioned. The
second common mistake is to play down the gravity of the sin. We make excuses
for the sinner because we don’t want him to feel bad about himself.
Samuel didn’t
pretend that the sin of his people was no big deal, but neither did he dwell on
what couldn’t be undone. Samuel was all about acknowledging the sin and moving
on to active repentance. The Samaritan woman at the well is an example of how Jesus
models a similar pattern for us. (Read about it in John chapter 4.) Rather than harp on
what she was doing wrong (and she knew it was wrong), Jesus offered her an
alternative. He didn’t pretend not to notice her sin but, like Samuel in this passage,
he proceeded to teach her the way that is good and right.
When we are
tempted to be judgmental or to make excuses for sin, let’s take Samuel’s words
to heart: “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to
pray for you.”
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| We do not want people to feel bad – but sin should make one feel bad.* |
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