Different Reasons
GTCOTR/ss071402
Our 1 year anniversary in our new building.
Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
The story of Hannah and Elkanah from 1 Samuel 1
Elkanah could have had several Different Reasons for going up to Shiloh, to the Temple of the Lord at this appointed time.
* 1 Chronicles 6:27 tells us that he was a Levite priest, and according to 1599 Geneva Bible Footnotes, it was a custom that all priest present their families before the Lord once each year.
* As the head of his household, Elkanah also would have been responsible to bring the tithes and traditional sacrifices and offerings on behalf of his entire family and appear before the Lord three times each year. According to Deuteronomy 16:16 it was a Demand of God.
* John Gill’s Expositor argues that this could have been the feast of Passover or perhaps it was the feast of tabernacles. At any rate it was the duty of each man to pay at a yearly festival, the vows he had made on any account since the last festival.
* The vow referred to here could have been in response to the husband’s Duty to confirm or disallow his wife’s vow, (in light of Numbers 30). Hannah, in this case, had vowed to lend her child, (actually their child), to the Lord all the days of his life. Elkanah could have just found out about this pledge. This was also Elkanah’s only son of his well favored wife. A great sacrifice to confirm this vow, but nonetheless, his rightful, God given, God expected duty. To have said nothing was to confirm and to confirm was to pay.
* This vow could have been simply connected to the joyful birth of his son, leading Elkanah, through Desire, to vow and be excited to offer a special gift to God in thanksgiving .
* We don’t know all of the reasons why Elkanah went to the Temple of God in Shiloh, but we are told it was to “ … offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.”
I. Three Reasons We Offer Our Sacrifices And Our Vows To God
#1: By Demand (Elkanah did this as a priest and head of his house)
It can be nothing more than just Obedience
Just going through the motions because we:
Have been told to
Have been taught to
Are afraid not to
Always have done
Don’t know what else to do
#2: By Duty (Perhaps Elkanah did this as a husband)
Sense of obligation
It is my job, my place
I ought to because it is right
#3: By Desire (Elkanah did this as a father and as a son)
I want to
I love to
I don’t have to, I get to
It’s Passion - ‘to do’
(perhaps this is what David meant when he said, “restore unto me the joy of my salvation” Psalms 51:12 … give me back the passion to be and live the life of - me!)
Note:
* What are some of the sacrifices and/or vows you have committed to
Some biggies:
Marriage - Is it demand, duty or desire
Child raising -
No premarital/extra-marital sexual relationships
Church
Personal Decisions/Commitments
* Are you paying your vow unto God by demand, duty or desire?
Doing it because you have to?
Doing it because you ought to?
Doing it because you want to?
II. What To Do When We Find Ourselves Without a Want To, To Do What We Have To And Ought … or … Regaining The Passion To Serve God
What do we do when we don’t know what to do or we don’t want to do what we know we ought to or need to do, but we want to want to?
Similar to any emergency:
* First: Fly The Plane
keep doing the last thing we know for sure we were told to do
(the first thing we do in any emergency is ‘fly the plane’)
This is no time for us to make life changing decisions
* Next: Search for the problem
(remember: we might not be able to fix what broke … what went wrong is hardly ever the most important thing, but rather, what do I do now?)
(just because we know why we failed, does not guarantee success next time … there are probably another 1000 ways to fail. Simply avoiding our last experience will not in itself, make the next time work)
* Then: Take Positive Action
How?
(this information is readily available)
It is usually very simple
It is usually easily doable
It is usually things we know to do, have done before, and quit doing somewhere along the way.
Here are two simple things we can do whether we find out what went wrong or not:
* Call upon Jesus to restore the joy & passion of your life
> don’t think of leaving Jesus out of this equation
> He won’t think of leaving you out either … so -
* Work with Him to fix it
> sow simple seeds in season by faith
> prayer, church, friends, bible reading,
> fight the good fight of faith
> don’t panic
> keep flying the plane
Wings level
Right attitude
True to course
