Not Duplicates-Unique Lives

1 Samuel 8
Background:Samuel is grown old, his sons Joel and Abijah are now taking over as judges for Israel, however they are not honest in their judgment like their father. The Israelites come complaining to Samuel and ask him to give them a king like everyone else. Samuel is grieved, he thinks they have rejected him as judge. In those days, the judges were working as leaders for Israel and God would lead Israel in that manner, through judges. Samuel goes before God regarding this request that the Israelites made, God tells him what would happen if they wanted a king right now. Samuel gives them the entire detail of what would happen if they chose the king, yet the people wanted a king.They got Saul.

Lesson I learnt
The Israelites were not happy just with Samuel being their leader, they wanted a king, like everyone else."4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [a] us, such as all the other nations have." (1 Samuel 8:4-5). God was leading the Israelites through judges all this while. All people were equal, the judge was a mere leader, who would listen to God's Word and lead the people in His ways. However the Israelites were not satisfied with that. They wanted a king like everyone else. They wanted to be like the other nations.

Sometimes I too want a life thats, common, predictable, goes the way it goes with anyone else. Or like someone else I have seen. I sometimes think, my life should have been like this or like that. However over the years I have understood, that there's no other way I would rather live than to live with the Lord. It is difficult, in the manner that , if the 'so intelligent' world would ask me where I am heading, I would have no answer. Thinking of it, God wanted His people to be special, set apart from the rest of the crowd, different, standing out.He would love the same for His children now. We may not be the ones to blend in the crowd, we were never meant to. Thats why God made one of each type of person. Even the twins aren't alike. We are all unique creations.

1 Peter 2:9 says

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, a people belonging to God,

that you may declare the praises of him

who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. "

So if we belong to a Living God, our lives are deemed to be different from others , deemed to shine out, now, would we want to trade in our calling for something just to become like the rest of the world? Would we want to trade all that Jesus did for us, so costly through His blood, to become like everyone else? I say not. I encourage all you brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, lets be, all that God wants us to be according to His perfect will for our lives. Let's shine for our Living Lord.