1Samuel 8 “Look-Alikes”

1Samuel 8 “Look-Alikes”

One year when I was teaching, I had six sets of identical twins and one set of identical triplets! The children who attended all wore uniforms, so it was a challenge to differentiate between them! The Prophet Samuel’s two sons who were so similar they could have been twins but they walked in the ways of the world, not Samuel’s. It was not just one of the sons, but both walked contrary to the ways of Samuel, and they did so publicly. Every godly parent, just like Samuel, wants their children to follow the path of godliness, but sometimes children do not. We say they “march to their own drummer.” The leaders of the nation came to Samuel to give them a replacement in a king. They wanted to look like twins. They wanted to look like the nations around them with a king to rule and fight for them.  

Samuel’s heart was broken to hear the leaders say: “we reject your sons.”  But God told Samuel: “Listen to the voice of the people regarding all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them;” and remind them of the consequences of their decision.

Proverbs tells us to raise up a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it. [Prov 22:6] But sometimes no matter how diligent we are, some children will seek the world, not God.

If this resonates with you, know that we are here to pray for you if you have children who march to their own drummer, not God’s.