1Sa 12:1 Then Samuel said to all Israel, "I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you.1Sa 12:2 But now, you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I'm old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until today.
1Sa 12:3 Here I am. Bring charges against me before the LORD and His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged or mistreated? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you."
1Sa 12:4 "You haven't wronged us, you haven't mistreated us, and you haven't taken anything from anyone's hand," they responded.
1Sa 12:5 He said to them, "The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today that you haven't found anything in my hand." "He is a witness," they said.
In the upcoming elections, there are 3 candidates in the spotlight. Senators Hilary Clinton, Barak Obama, and John McCain. Attention is all on them and some Americans sit and wait for them to slip up in their actions or speech. Why? Some people enjoy ruining the reputation of others. What did they say wrong? Or what scandal were they involved in years ago? Anything to trip them up.
Samuel was different. In his old age, Israel began to demand for a king. We read in chapter 8 of 1 Samuel that he considered their demand sinful and did not want to take part in it. He took the situation to the Lord and God told him in verse 7, “But the LORD told him, "Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king.” Samuel listen to what the Lord commanded and in verse 15 of chapter 11 we read, “So all the people went to Gilgal, and there in the LORD's presence they made Saul king. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings in the LORD's presence, and Saul and all the men of Israel greatly rejoiced.” Saul was made the first king over Israel.
After Saul was appointed king, Samuel made sure Israel could not taint his reputation. He asked the entire nation what charges they could bring against him, if any? What had he done wrong? The only response was nothing. He had a clean slate. They knew his feelings on a king and his hands were clean of the aftermath of their decision.
Our presidential hopefuls, have a fine tooth comb running through their pasts. Many charges are coming up against them. Eventually, some things could be brought up to ruin them.
What about us? We all have things in our past we regret. Honestly, you are lying if you say you don’t. We can start from here though. We can live that life of integrity that was modeled by Samuel. We can live from here on out in such a way that our slate is clean. So, are we going to?
Aaron
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