Woven

Before we go any further and because Angie is going to ask us to do it anyway, turn back to page 14 of our book. Put your pointer finger on the spool of thread. As you guide it along the thread, see if you can name what each of those images stands for. What part of Biblical history does each image represent? Also, can you remember where in the Bible each particular event is found?

Here’s what I’m betting…. You are better at it than you were at the start of the summer! Since the Christian life is all about growing and changing and transforming (it’s a process), I believe should celebrate our growing knowledge of God’s Word, His story of Gospel redemption.

Read – Woven, Chapter 9

We’ve made it all the way to the last of our judges, Samuel. When Samuel grew old and appointed his sons as leaders, they didn’t do a very good job. Heartbreakingly, Israel doesn’t expect their leaders to transform and do better, they decided to ask for something completely different.

“You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” 1 Samuel 8:5

Yuck! Doesn’t it sound like something a toddler or a middle schooler would ask for? They wanted to be like everyone else and to get what everyone else had. But, God didn’t make them like everyone else. They were meant to stand out, to be different, yet they wanted to blend in. I wonder if humanity will every learn when God wants something different than what we want, the intelligent answer is always to choose what God wants.

This week will be interesting! God gave Israel what she wanted, and maybe you already know how that turned out. If you don’t know, I bet you guessed that it doesn’t go smoothly. We will look more closely at Saul, David, and Solomon this week. I hope you’re ready, because we can learn a lot from their lives even if we aren’t royalty.

Journal – From your reading today, write down some questions you have about the characters we’ve studied in this chapter. I have no doubt that some of them are names you’ve heard before. Maybe our chapter helped you connect the dots from preschool Sunday school stories to actual life application. If so, write all about it in your journal.

Also, since we will study David this week, choose any Psalm to read today. Then, turn that psalm into a personal prayer for yourself. Don’t overthink it! Just, take some of the words that David wrote and turn them into a statement you will claim or a request that you ask. I won’t leave a prayer of my own. Your prayer from Psalms will end our time together today. (By the way, you can’t mess this up. It’s YOUR prayer.)