“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.”
We were living in the county when I was teenager. Dad had told us to pull the weeds out of the garden while he went to work. It was summer time and Chuck and I had better things to do but we listened and obeyed. He was careful to tell us about the Bermuda grass growing in the gardens and how you must dig deep to get the roots. Like drones, we responded “OK dad” and he went to work. So we got started on the gardens and it was clear that digging up the roots of the Bermuda grass was very time consuming. Therefore, to finish early, we just pulled up the grass on the surface and did not dig deep enough to get the roots. When dad came home, he saw our job and said “thanks” and that was that.
Well, a few days later all over the garden little sprigs of Bermuda grass were popping up in the garden and dad saw this. So he asked us if we just pulled up the surface level grass or did we dig it up the way he told us. It was clear what we did so it was no use to lie. We got in trouble and had to redo the gardens the right way this time. We learned a powerful lesson that day, do it right the first time!
The Israelites had a hard time with this one as Samuel gave his farewell address to Israel. They seem to always be messing up or not fully devoting themselves to the Lord. Having King Saul as their king was their answer because they were tired of the way the Lord was handling things. However, the reality is that it was them who kept falling back into their old was of straying from the Lord. Verse 17 says, “I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”
Their choice for a king was them rejecting the Lord as their king. Samuel gives them a stern warning in verse 24 and 25. He tells them to be sure to serve the Lord faithfully with all of your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. He continues, “Yet if you perish in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”
That pesky Bermuda grass grows really fast kind of like the sin in our lives. It effects more than we expect when we choose to sin instead of following the Lord. We choose our actions every day and every day we have a choice like the Israelites did. You cannot take sin lightly. Treat it so and it will take over your life until you are found wanting to elect false kings to deal with the problems you have created.
Today, you might be doing the same thing. Putting agendas, or friends, or schedules ahead of getting to know your savior Jesus Christ. He will allow you to elect kings in your life when you feel like Christ is not enough and every time you do, you will have to live out the consequences your actions. Have you put Him first or all of your idols taking first place? Revelation 3:20 says ” Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ” Do you have your life turned up so loud that you don’t even hear the knock?
Let It Go 
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