Gospel Reflections #997: God, who transforms us from within, enables us.

1 Samuel 7:15 ‘Samuel judged Israel all his life.’

Samuel was the last judge before Israel transitioned to a monarchy.

This verse shows that Samuel was not a temporary saviour, but devoted his entire life to upholding spiritual justice and order among the people.

 He was able to judge ‘all his life’ because he had earned the trust of the people and God’s approval through God’s victories in the battles against the Philistines.

Later, the people sought a visible ‘king’, but Samuel continued to teach them throughout his life that ‘God is King’, and fulfilled the role of anointing the early kings, such as Saul and David. 

In the Book of Samuel, this verse symbolises the stability of an era and serves as a summary that praises Samuel’s ‘steadfast faith’ and ‘faithful service’.

We tend to seek reactions and rewards for our actions, and if things do not go as we expect, we are prone to giving up or losing heart.

Like Samuel, we wish to remain pure and silent in our ‘steadfast faith’ and ‘faithfulness’.

This requires us to trust God wholeheartedly, entrust ourselves completely to Him, and follow Him to the end; yet God makes us aware of what we lack and urges us to seek it.

God, who transforms us from within, enables us to fulfill the role He has in mind for us, whilst at the same time reshaping us into people who resemble Him.

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.