The Failings of Eli

Well, its been a couple of months since I've posted. I just started a new job, so things are a little crazy right now.

I was reading through I Samuel recently and encountered the story of Eli, and his terrible offspring, the two dudes that were priests. Basically, he did nothing to stop their abominable actions to the people and toward God. At first, my spiritual insight was this is what happens when you become complacent and keep you "eyes" closed. You can lose sight of your mission as a Christian, as well as opportunities for you to serve. Its kinda like a rifle with no ammo, that's been placed on the shelf. And this is all true.

However, after re-read that section, I found a verse (I Samuel 2:29) where a prophet is confronting Eli about the issue of his sons: "'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'" So what's the real problem here? The fact that Eli, the spiritual leader of the entire nation, was placing his sons before God. Its that simple. God wants pre-eminance in our lives, not relegation to the back shelf. When we put something before, or in the place of, God, that throws everything out of whack, and we're rendered useless.