Samuel Chapter 6

The cows are coming!

We've been waiting for quite some time to get to this part of the story.

Not only has God show his power and strength to the Philistine nation, in this chapter we see the return of the Ark to the Israelites.  

The Philistines want to double check that what they have experienced, was actually by the hand of God.   So they test Him.    And not only do they test Him, but they set it up to fail.   They use a couple of cows who have never been yoked before, and not only that, but two mother cows who have recently had calves.   They lock the calves up and send the cows on their way.   Their natural instinct should be to turn back to their calves, or at least turn off the road to munch on some grass growing nearby.   But they don't.   They stay right on track until they reach the place they are supposed to, and then they stop.   You can just imagine the Philistines left scratching their heads can't you.

Then we picture the Israelites, out in the field harvesting their crop, and out of nowhere, comes the Ark of the Lord.   Sometimes we think God has left us, or turned His back on us or taken something from us.   But we need to remember that God sees the big picture.   God is interested in spiritual victories, not earthly ones.   Sometimes it seems like we've lost the battle, but trust God, keep your eyes fixed on Him.   Because soon it will be harvest time, and when you least expect it, God's blessing will come to you.   But when it does, don't be foolish like the men of Beth Shemesh were, we need to remember to walk in step with Gods word.   The Ark was a huge blessing to the people of Beth Shemesh, but because they failed to live by Gods word, it became a burden to them and so they passed it onto someone else.  

What are some blessings today that we often misuse making them a burden rather then a blessing?