Gospel Reflections #888: Our Will Bent towards God

1 Samuel 4:3 "Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us. Then the Lord will come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

This stems from the Israelite elders failing to understand the true cause of their defeat, their own sin and turning away from God, and instead simplistically believing that bringing out the "Ark of the Covenant" through human wisdom would secure victory.

This scene reveals a decline in faith, where they treated the "Ark" itself—symbolizing God's presence—like an idol, neglecting true repentance and returning to God.

As a result, God did not help them as they relied on the Ark; they were defeated by the Philistines, and the Ark was captured.

Do we ever think our faith is secure simply because we attend church, keep the Sabbath, pray, study the Bible, or serve?

We tend to depend on visible things or our own efforts, but God looks not at such things.

He sees whether we are turning toward Him, always looking up to Him, striving to come to Him.

When we have the will to obey His holy commandments, the Lord is with us, working for us through His infinite power.

We need only seek God Himself, just as we are.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.