DISCUSSION
Have
you ever heard the expression “the grass is always greener on the other
side”? This phase came from an old Latin proverb that said, “The
corn in another man’s ground seems ever more fertile and plentiful than our own
does.” Why is that? Why do we always look at other people’s
situations and think that they have it much better than we do
ourselves? It is all about perception; we perceive that others have
it better, when they perceive the same thing about us. The children
of Israel fall into this same trap. After the period of the judges,
they had looked around and noticed that they did not look like the other
nations. The other nations had a king, yet they did
not. It was God’s intention for them to see Him as their King, but
they perceived that their neighboring nations had it better than they
did. In I Samuel 8.4-5, the elders of Israel approached Samuel ” Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in
your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (1
Samuel 8:5). The phrase I
want us to key in on is “like all the nations”. The
Israelites looked to the neighboring nations and thought “they have it better
off than we do, please make us like them”. Of course, this
displeased the Lord as well as Samuel. They knew that having an
earthly king would be bad news for the Israelites, yet God allowed them to have
one. In hindsight, having an earthly king was not a good idea at
all. It didn’t take long for the Israelites to become like those
neighboring nations. Within a matter of years, they had begun
practicing idolatry, causing the kingdom to be split and ultimately carried off
in to Babylonian Captivity. Truly the grass on the other side was not
greener at all. If they had just looked at themselves and
understood, it isn’t about looking like everyone else. It is about
being different; it is about standing out; it is about being a people that realizes
that they are God’s possession and do not need an earthly
king. Today, it is very easy for us to do the same
thing. Remember what the Apostle Peter said, “But you are
a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9). God
doesn’t want us to be like everyone else; He expects us to be different.
Prayer
Requests:_______________________________________________________________