Accountability Before God

I’m in 1 Samuel now. These verses touched me. I share them from my heart to your heart.

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1 And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.

2 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.

5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.

6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

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It does seem like God’s people are constantly inconsistent in their walk with the Lord. The Bible is replete with story after story, incident after incident, where this is documented. They slowly turn their backs on God, get into deep trouble, call out to God, and He comes and (usually) intercedes on their behalf.

So when I read the Bible, I don’t read it like it’s about “those” people and therefore it’s not relevant to me. I’ve learned, as perhaps you as well, that there is an awful lot of similarity between the historical people in the Bible and us present day “schmucks”. If we think differently, well then … we’ve fooled and deluded ourselves.

Why is it that we, sometimes, find it difficult to identify as being like the folks in the verses I’ve shared? I think I might have potential insight into that.

First:

From a cursory look, it seems like when God’s people go off into weirdness it starts with individuals. Those whom Samuel addressed had gotten, perhaps, a little too familiar with God, a little too lax concerning who and what He is and what He expected from them. Usually that starts in individuals. Once it does, it spreads to infectious proportions among the whole of God’s people. (See 1 Samuel 6; especially v. 19)

We’ve all experienced the path away from closeness to God. It’s so imperceptible that we don’t even notice it or recognize it. It’s kind of like watching children grow up right in front of you — you don’t even see it happening. ——

Second:

When reading about people that have strayed from God (especially in the OT narratives) it seems like it always ends up with them doing some incredibly horrific things. And that’s the reality. But our danger is that we look at them and say we’re not like them because we don’t do what they did, like they did, as frequently as they did it.

So as the French say: Voila (Vwa-Lah) — we’re off the hook. We’ve measured ourselves by that which is lesser than we are and thus conclude since we’re not “like them” we’re fine with ourself, with others, and with God.

Now, I have a feeling some of you might say you don’t do that. But, subconsciously, I believe that’s exactly what we do. How can I say that? I can say that because there isn’t one of us who can look our Heavenly Father in the face and say: “You and me God — we’re good. Nothing to see here.” But that’s indeed what we do, isn’t it? ——

And that’s indeed what these people had done.

It’s worth noting the way Samuel portrays their condition. It’s like he’s saying they had — a little God here, mixed with a little Baalim there, topped off with just a little dash of Ashtaroth for good measure.

In other words, they had become a MIXTURE, a blend, a religious and moral amalgam of the society in which they lived.

How’d that happen?

Rather than constantly checking up on themselves to stay accountable before God —

They allowed themselves to slowly backslide to where they couldn’t see what was happening to them. A little leaven ended up permeating the whole lump.

Allow me to proffer some thoughts from this passage regarding accountability before God —

*Samuel drew their attention to their condition. — We need others in our lives that care enough to tell us the hard truth. That’s what Samuel did. As the Bible says: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17)

*Samuel told them they had strayed. He let them know they needed to return to the Lord. If someone needs to return that means they’re not where they’re supposed to be.

*He then told them to address the source of their condition: Their hearts. It always starts with the heart. We need to remember that God searches and knows our heart. Our part is to realize that our “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

*Next came the positive action steps: Put away; Prepare; Serve. This is where the personal and practical has to come in. You alone need to know how, and to what degree, these apply to you.

*But after all that, he gives the specific areas to deal with: “The strange gods” — the foreign elements they allowed into their lives that made them impure.

*Lastly: Repentance. That’s what the pouring out of water and fasting alludes to. It’s the idea of emptying one’s self of all that needs to come out in order to take in that which will refresh and strengthen.

Accountability before God takes work. It’s not something we can approach with a lick-and-a-promise attitude.

And I think that’s where we stumble.

It’s much easier to read a book, listen to a speaker, subscribe to pod casts, scour the Internet … to let someone else do the hard, impersonal, work for us. But that never gets to the source of the issue, the heart of the matter.

Our Heavenly Father gave us His Word to order our steps in such a way that we will please Him and become more like our Saviour. We can get help from outside sources, that’s true. But that’s kind of like eating processed cheese instead of the real thing.

I know. I grew up on processed cheese … and meat … and just about any other thing that could have been processed. But once I got to taste, regularly, the real stuff — no secondary substitute would satisfy.

You can choose to be fooled by eating your own (or someone else’s) “processed” self-assessment …

Or —

You can follow the steps Samuel laid out as a guideline to your path of personal accountability before God.

If you do, be prepared for a makeover starting from the inside out.

It’s the way God has always done it.

And that’s also how you know He loves you.