Reading your Bible for Today December 15

December 15: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

KJV Key Verse: 1 Samuel 16:12
12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Devotion:
Who can say who should be king of a land? Who would you choose if you were to choose a king? What sort of person would you look for? What sort of character would you look at? Our wisdom in choosing someone to rule over us is often short-lived! We all express desire to be able to vote for a leader, and vote who we think should be in a position of authority – but all too often they turn out to be as bad as the people we vote out!

We try to make good decisions based on past experience and we try to use our knowledge and wisdom to fortify those decisions. But all too often we are swayed by something that is said or done and our minds are made up! We go forward and find out what we have done is no better than fall into a trap that someone else has laid. Don't worry, you are not alone!

Samuel was a man of God. He was one of the few who heard from God directly! What an awesome responsibility that was! You would think he would be able to spot a king... And yet God had to guide him every step of the way. The people had chosen Saul and he had proved to be a good leader for a while, but as with most leaders he had let the power get to him and he began to do things for himself rather than for God. Whenever we see a leader take their first step away from God, we can be sure that that is the beginning of their downfall!

God chose David because of what He knew was inside David. He knew David would make mistakes and fall into temptation, but He also knew David would not turn his back against God. He knew David would always come forward to beg for forgiveness when he saw the error of his ways. We need to take direction from David's and Samuel's lives and remember that God alone is in charge and we need to seek and follow Him and Him alone!

Points to Ponder:
Who is the leader amongst your friends?

How often do they make decisions based on God's Word?