Chances are you’ve been to a grocery store in the last few days. Maybe it was a convenience store which sells food, but most people have been to a retail business. You select the things you want, take them to the checkout, the bar codes are scanned, and a total is calculated. You pay, then take the items home.
Does that mean you know what it takes to work in a grocery store? No. What you see means nothing unless you’ve worked retail. Take it from a guy who has worked in the fast food industry - it’s stressful.
Even after I moved into another job I had stress for months on end. The smallest thing would make me fly off the handle. But eventually it faded as time went by.
The point of this story is that just because you’ve seen someone scan a bar code doesn’t mean you know what it takes to get that can of Goya to the shelf. Never mind what it took to PRODUCE that product, just getting it to the shelf where you can buy it is a daunting task.
Just because you have seen a preacher and heard about God doesn’t mean you know the least little thing about Him. Even if you’ve been a churchgoer for years, have absorbed countless lessons, and have a million factoids ready in your mind doesn’t mean you’re a follower.
Take for instance Eli. We can learn all we need to know about him (and so many church members) from the first few chapters of 1 Samuel. He was in charge of God’s church in ancient Israel, knew what it took to serve Him, and still knew nothing of Him.
God does not want you to follow a certain set of steps thinking that will save you. If that would work, then why would you need God? He wants - He loves - YOU, not giving up chocolate for Lent. (Yes, I’ve done that.) That’s not how to please Him.
Eli followed all the prescribed steps of sacrifices. He taught his sons to do the same, but no doubt those same sons recognized it was empty repetition. The two of them, Hophni and Phinehas, went through the motions of the Law but skimmed off the top - just like corrupt politicians.
The priesthood back in those days was hereditary. No doubt God saw Eli’s kids and knew Eli’s grandchildren would be even worse. In order to cut the corruption out, God pronounced His verdict. Sons were more important then than almost anything, so to lose your progeny was worse than death. But Eli got that, too.
Don’t think like Eli, that knowledge of God is enough. It’s not. The first commandment sets up the requirements nicely: Love God above anything and everything else. Then you’ll be okay when you stand before Him.
If you don’t love Him, He’ll look at you and say, “Who are you again? I don’t recognize you.”
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