“The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.” (1 Samuel 10:6, NIV)
It’s no easy trick changing your golf grip. Above all things, it feels so uncomfortable. But often, as we drift over time into bad habits, a helpful professional will reset our hands and say, “This is the change you need to make. This will help your game.”
When we take up that advice and lock it in through repetition, change is good. We do indeed play a better game.
God, too, has changes in store for us. He sees ahead in our lives and knows just what we need to do to rise to the next level in our faith-filled living.
In the case of Saul, God saw a man who would be king. So he sent his principal prophet, Samuel, to anoint Saul as God’s choice to lead his “inheritance”—that is, his people. Saul was not entirely sure what to make of this prophecy, but when Samuel laid down details, Saul recognized that this was not your ordinary vote of confidence. He took the first steps toward the kingship and “as Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart.” God was taking an ordinary man and making him extraordinary. In fact, the Hebrew for change suggests an overthrow. Things were going to be altogether different.
Of course, this is not Saul’s whole story. He did ascend to the kingship, but only for as long as he let God direct his course. As time passed, Saul chose instead to make his own rules and do what was “comfortable.” God then rejected him as king and sent Samuel to anoint David, who would be a man after God’s heart.
We can resist good change, too. We can ignore the professional’s reset of our grip and keep drifting farther from what is right. And we can deny God access to our lives. We can turn him aside from the very beginning, saying, “God can’t change me. I am what I am.” Or we can grow tired of living within his parameters and choose instead to go back to our old lives or choose a new course completely outside his boundaries. God loves us both in pointing out the direction he has for us and in allowing us the choice of whether to follow that direction. Surely, we know which course is better. Still, we must choose it.
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Jeff Hopper
February 15, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.