God is Not a Good Luck Charm

The following is from a devotional I'm reading with my wife. I've referenced it before in this blog: The Story: The Bible's Grand Narrative of Redemption by Jon Nielson. This is an excellent reading on how our faith has to be sincere; being "religious" carries no weight with God. The devotional is based on 1 Samuel 4.

Following the call of Samuel, we immediately plunge into a battle scene in chapter 4. We see the Israelites against their archrivals, the Philistines. The first skirmish doesn't go very well for the Israelites. The people wonder why God has allowed the wicked Philistines to defeat them in battle. They do no know that this is all happening in accordance with God's Word - spoken through Samuel - about his judgment on the wicked sons of Eli.

The priests and people decide to bring out the ark of the covenant and march it in front of them into battle so that they will achieve victory. Now you may remember that the ark of the covenant was the symbol of God's presence with his people; it was located in the holy place of worship. But the ark was just that - a symbol. God's people, as we can see from this action, have decided to use the ark of the covenant as a good luck charm for battle. They are, essentially, seeking to use God, rather than live in submission and worship to him.

Marching out this symbol of God's presence did not change the fact that the real God behind the ark was intent on judging his people for the grievous sin of the priests, Hophni and Phineas. The chapter ends with great sadness as Eli dies, essentially from shock, when he hears the news of the death of his sons and the Philistine's capture of the ark.

The Israelites need to be reminded that God did not live in the ark! God cannot be contained by any religious charm or symbol, and he will not be wheeled out by his people for their own personal use. God is holy, mighty, and just, and he demands obedience, repentance, and holiness from his people. No religious ritual could deter God's righteous anger against the sin of these wicked men who had abused their position, damaged God's people, and rebelled against his Word.

Are there religious rituals or "good luck charms" - prayers, church attendance, devotions - that you privately think will help you get in good with God? Friend, God will not be used. He doesn't want us to use him for our purposes; he wants us to repent of our sins, turn to him, and follow him and his good purposes. Pray today that you would not use God, but that you would humbly make yourself totally available to him and obedient to his good purposes for you in Christ.