Using Your Senses

Wednesday, February 24

Using Your Senses  

And said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”  1 Samuel 8:5

God created us with five basic senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. He intricately designed each sense organ to transmit information to our brain. Our five senses help us understand and notice what is happening in our world.  As followers of Christ we are called to walk by faith. This means we cannot always allow what we see, hear or feel to cause us to lose sight of what God is doing. In faith we move into the direction God is calling us although it doesn’t make sense.

Israel saw the other nations having earthly kings and soon felt left out. The Lord was to be the ruler of Israel. God led the people through Moses and Aaron, and then through priests and judges raised up to govern the people. Yet still they wanted someone who pleased the eyes. In Samuel’s time, the people began to worry about who the next leader would be, since Samuel’s sons did not follow the Lord. In 1 Samuel 8:5 the Israelites ask Samuel to appoint a king, saying, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” Their request for a king was a rejection of God’s way of leadership over them. Samuel was displeased and prayed to the Lord concerning the matter. God comforted Samuel in saying “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you” (1 Samuel 8:7–8). God said the Israelites’ request was a rejection of Him, that they had forsaken Him and were serving other gods.

Using the natural senses the Israelites reach for the wrong thing not realizing how much it would harm them. I find it interesting that the Israelites wanted a man instead of God. But if I continue to make this conclusion, I see it as being just them and not me. Truth is, we too fall into this trap daily. Relying on the flesh instead of tapping into the Spirit to lead us. Do not rely on the flesh to guide you, remain confident in God despite what your surroundings may look like.