THEY HAD NO REGARD FOR THE LORD
I Samuel 2:17 This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s ‘
sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.
Once before something like this had happened. In Leviticus 10:1,2 it says, “ Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” What made this so bad was they knew better than to do this. They had a unique position of trust and responsibility that brought accountability. When they deliberately rejected what God said to do they were punished. This punishment was not only for them, but a warning for everyone else. God doesn’t want anyone taking lightly of him. He deserves better and it is not good for us, because even unintentional sin has consequences (Lev 4:13-35), so how much more does purposeful sin against God?
In today’s passage Eli the High Priest for God had two son’s that verse 12 tells us they were wicked men, because they had no regard for the Lord. Their sin was that they would go to where the sacrificed meat was being boiled, and before the meat was even boiled they would demand meat with fat still on it to be given to them so they could roast it. In doing it this way and not as the other priests were taking whatever came up from the boiling water, they took away the honor it was meant to be given to the Lord. Their hunger for the best meat was more important to them, than to honor the Lord. Our attitude towards honoring the Lord is of great importance to the Lord.
Our attitude will dictate our actions, and our actions will dictate how God will relate to us! It is no little thing when we do not honor God in our life. I believe that this is everything from the way we talk to him, to our clothing, to our attitudes, what we say about him, how and if we worship him, how we take communion, what type of church we go to, if we go to church, our lifestyle, how we treat others, what we say and do behind closed doors and the list can go on and on.
So what are all the right ways to do all the above and the other things I didn’t mention? Well, it’s all a matter of the heart! It is kind of like the little illustration I heard once about a little girl and her father. The father was mowing the lawn and the mother wanted to give him a glass of water. She had the daughter take the glass to him, but on the way it was heavy for the little girl and she accidently let one of her fingers get in the water. The father only smiled, thanked her, gave her a big kiss and told her how much he loved her for bringing him the water. The other case was when the little girl resented taking the water out to her father, so she deliberately put her dirty fingers in the water before she gave it to her father. The intent was everything!
We see in Matthew 5:23,24 where it says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” In other words it’s all a matter of the heart regarding the offering. If you are giving a gift to God so you won’t feel guilty or afraid of being punished, well what needs to be done is start with the reason for the offering. Our physical life lived is important as well as our spiritual life and relationship with God.
In I Cor 11:27-30 it tells us, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyonewho eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” Once again it is the intention of the heart! Communion is a holy sacrament given to Christians by Jesus to help us remember and appreciate his great sacrifice for us. It is not just to be eaten or drank as we might a casual snack. None of us are perfect and without daily sin in our life, but to show disrespect or even disdain is taken as a terrible insult towards God.
Probably the greatest show of disrespect or disdain towards God now is the outward rejection of his Son Jesus Christ and his great offer of forgiveness through his atonement. This comes about by doing the unforgivable sin. (Matt 12:31) I believe this to be the rejection of the Holy Spirit’s call to us to become a Christian. He comes to convict us of our sin, the righteousness of Jesus and the judgment of God. This is basicly his knocking on the door of our heart to welcome Jesus in. How do we know if we have went too far and sinned the unforgivable sin? Well, when a person has no interest in wanting to repent of their sins, doesn’t want to hear about Jesus and doesn’t believe or fear the judgment of God, those are signs of being eternally lost. Once a person comes to this point in their life, there is little anyone can say or do to change things. This person has doomed themselves to eternity in hell. They are considered evil, because they had no regard for the Lord! (I Sam 2:12)
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to never show disrespect to you,our Heavenly Father, or Jesus our Lord and Savior. Thank you Holy Spirit.
