Choices

Read the following passage:
 ¹² Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD. ¹³ Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled ¹⁴ and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
 ¹⁶ If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
 ¹⁷ This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.
 ¹⁸ But Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod. (1 Samuel 2:12-18, New International Version, ©2011),
and realized that despite living in a wicked household, children are still responsible for choosing correct behavior no matter the environment. Behavior is a choice.

The punch-line is the 18th verse and begins with the word, “but.”

 ¹⁸ But Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod. (1 Samuel 2:18, New International Version, ©2011)

Despite what was going on all around him, despite being fostered by a man of God who raised wicked children and didn’t bother to discipline them, Samuel lived out his life in the “but” even though he was no more than 3 years old when he was dedicated to the Lord and when to live with Eli. Wow.

It ain’t what mommy, daddy, auntie, uncle did or didn’t do, it is what did you chose to do.

This came the day after reading this out of the book of Ruth:

 ¹ Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
 ² Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. ³ Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. ⁴ I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”
   “I will redeem it,” he said.
 ⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”
 ⁶ At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.” (Ruth 4:1-6, New International Version, ©2011)

The “other” kinsman redeemer, or the guardian-redeemer which represents Christ, was trying to preserves his physical legacy so he declined to “redeem Naomi, and thus Ruth, from out of their poverty because he wanted to preserve his natural legacy forgetting about another spiritual legacy that was greater. The “true” legacy had to pass through Ruth so he lost what really mattered.

How often do I, do we, make the mistake of “trading” what is truth and thus everlasting, for the temporal that will fade away?