Daily Manna: As The Old Year Exit! Tuesday 31, December 2013

Daily Manna: As The Old Year Exit!
Tuesday 31, December 2013
TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 7:1-12

KEY VERSE: “And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. Then Samuel…called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:10,12).

An American businessman in Boston once declared, “Before I die, I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I’m gonna climb Mount Sinai. And when I’m up there I’m gonna read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top of my voice!” A listener, Mark Twain quipped, “I got a better idea. Stay in Boston and keep them”. In today’s text, we note Samuel’s directive to backsliding Israel. Their prompt obedience really set the stage for the LORD Jehovah to proof His power in their midst by comprehensively dealing with and discomfiting the enemies (the Philistines) that rose against them.

How we need to renew our consecration to obey God unconditionally! We suffer and totter miserably when our obedience is incomplete. We come short of God’s glory when we fail to acknowledge His goodness and mercies and how He has seen us through a most challenging year. Even so, Samuel’s designation of the place of sacrifice as “Ebenezer…hitherto hath the LORD helped us” is a fitting acknowledgement of God’s manifold mercies to an undeserving people over the ages.

The Philistines, no matter how formidable, are not strong enough to defeat the true believer who lives by the unchanging standard of God’s word. Obedience, a song writer penned, brings a blessing. A grateful heart before God opens up a floodgate of blessings from the Most High.

As we bid the year 2013 goodbye and stand at the threshold of a new year, how we need to fully obey the Lord with all our hearts and put away every form of iniquity and idolatry from our lives so that the desired victories for 2014 will not elude us. And when we fully obey God and follow His will, we must learn to break forth into praises when enemies harass us. God will surely see us through in the new year.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: His grace will see you through.

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