- Joined
- Oct 26, 2007
- Messages
- 12,539
Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 1 Samuel 2:22 NKJV
Jesus’ teaching that you are to love the Lord your God more than your own father and mother, spouse, and children (Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26) seems strange. Strange, that is, until you see someone who loves family more than God.
Eli was a man who, for all his priestly duties and privileges, had reduced God in his heart. On the throne of Eli’s life was his own comfort. His affections were set on the prosperity to be had from the Tabernacle offerings, and on the calm to be enjoyed when his sons were not provoked. Perhaps saddest of all? When Eli is confronted with the reality of pending judgment, he doesn’t seem to care. He reveals himself as a man who had let god slip to last place in his affections.
Thankfully, Jesus affirmed that loving God “with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NLT) doesn’t preclude loving others or yourself (Mark 12:31). On what have you set your affections? Whom do you value most? Yourself? Your loved ones? Or the Lord God?
Prayer: Lord, You don’t want me to devalue You in my heart and affections. You have all my love.
Jesus’ teaching that you are to love the Lord your God more than your own father and mother, spouse, and children (Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26) seems strange. Strange, that is, until you see someone who loves family more than God.
Eli was a man who, for all his priestly duties and privileges, had reduced God in his heart. On the throne of Eli’s life was his own comfort. His affections were set on the prosperity to be had from the Tabernacle offerings, and on the calm to be enjoyed when his sons were not provoked. Perhaps saddest of all? When Eli is confronted with the reality of pending judgment, he doesn’t seem to care. He reveals himself as a man who had let god slip to last place in his affections.
Thankfully, Jesus affirmed that loving God “with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NLT) doesn’t preclude loving others or yourself (Mark 12:31). On what have you set your affections? Whom do you value most? Yourself? Your loved ones? Or the Lord God?
Prayer: Lord, You don’t want me to devalue You in my heart and affections. You have all my love.
Last edited:
