Using God as a good luck charm.

 1Sa 4:1 ¶ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
1Sa 4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
1Sa 4:3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1Sa 4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
1Sa 4:5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
1Sa 4:6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
1Sa 4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1Sa 4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
1Sa 4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
1Sa 4:10 ¶ And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
1Sa 4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

In this passage we see that Israel is, once again, at war with the Philistines. However, the Israelites are losing because they are not following God. We see, that in a desperate attempt to win the war, Israel takes the Ark of the Covenant and brings it into the battle. Now ,a funny thing happens, they still lose. You'd think that because the Israelites brought the holiest thing that they had access to that God would help them win. Sounds right doesn't it? Well, lets think about this, what do you do with a good luck charm? Do you wear it around your neck in the shape of a rabbits foot? Or do you keep it in your pocket in the form of a button? Or do you not use it until you need it in the form of prayer? To many people use prayer and God as good luck charms. I read in a book about a school who hung this sign in its lobby. "To whom it may concern: In the event of Atomic Attack all rules against praying in this school are indefinitely suspended." This is was rather difficult for me to read without bursting out in laughter. Then I thought , "Why am laughing, this really isn't funny. With America the way it is, this is normal." Prayer is not a tool to be set on the back shelf. God will answer prayer but he will not be our good luck charm. He deserves better than that. Considering everything He has done for you.







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