R³ Devotional - Day 99

One of my favorite lines in the 2007 sitcom 'The Office' is from Michael Scott, district regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, where he is quoted saying, "I am not superstitious, just a little-stitious."  One of the best lines ever.  I remember falling off the couch laughing at this almost 20 years ago.  There is so much to unpack in these 5 chapters, so I will focus on these few key points.

The Israelites have been conquering lands, and people, as God has promised.  They have quite the winning streak going on and people have grown accustomed to acknowledging the success through the Ark of the Covenant, almost as it's their lucky rabbits foot.
 
Their spiritual strength gets lazy and their focus on what God truly wanted from them gets lost in the priority shuffle.
They took for granted His promises and ended up losing a large battle, and in this battle they loose their prized possession, the Ark of the Covenant.
 
This is seemingly the end all, be all, for them and their long time priest, Eli, as this news brings him to his death.  
The Philistines capture the Ark and we learn that there is truly a reason why we call him God.
 
The can have no hold on the Ark and God uses its presence in the wrong hands to show his power and love for his people.  

The Ark eventually makes it way back to the Israelites, because God is so faithful to his people, and the opposition is reminded of the power of the One True God.  
The Israelites have much learning to do and their judge, Samuel is there for them to remind them that no matter the sacrifice, without a contrite heart, and placing God in his rightful place of preeminence in our lives, we will forever be lost in a priority shuffle.  

Over some time the Israelites request a worldly king, and they ask Samuel to take this request to God.  Thus starts a new age in our story, the age of the monarchy in Judah.  

Real Life Principles:

•  Superstitions with God really don't play out very well in our favor, whether you are superstitious or a little-stitious.
  
  
• You can live your entire life with the perfect top 4 priorities in your day to day, but if they aren't in the right order, you are living on the edge of disaster and your Lord, isn't Jesus Christ.
  
  
• God doesn't need us in order for him to win battles.  When the Ark was in the wrong hands with Philistines, he showed us that he has no problem handling situations without us.  

Relevant Life Applications:

• Don't get caught up in worrying about what your prayer room looks like, worry about whether or not you are focusing on the relationship and communication with your Lord, Jesus Christ
  
  
• Our Ark today, is Jesus Christ, don't take His sacrifice for granted.  Honor it in everything you do, daily, and make HIM your #1 priority, and you will be able to live confidently each and every day knowing that he is with you in every battle.
  
  
• Live full of faith and never be dependent on worldly things, or you may start looking at Jesus like he is only a lucky charm and forgetting he is your greatest gift.

Ready Actions steps:

•  Don't be superstitious or a little-stitious.  BE A JESUS FREAK!