Daily Devotional for Tuesday, June 6

Eli's Sons Are Guilty of Intimidation

“Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force,” 1 Samuel 2:15-16.

Several years ago, I worked a secular job while pastoring one of the Lord’s churches. One of my bosses, who said he was a pastor also, tried to force me and other Christians to work on Sundays at times. We were faced with this intimidation and had to make a choice to give into it or stand on what we believed. Some gave in, some quit, and as for me, I decided to take a stand against this intimidation. As a result, I not only prevailed but was chosen as employee of the year.

The prophet Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were serving in the priest’s office, had become corrupt and tried to intimidate people that were simply trying to serve the Lord and offer their sacrifices (1 Samuel 2:13). Every child of God will have to face people that try to intimidate them and cause them to compromise their faith. Daniel faced the same kind of intimidation and had to make a choice whether to only pray to king Darius for thirty days or continue to pray to God openly like he always had and be thrown into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:1-28). As you may already know, Daniel chose to continue praying to the Lord and the Lord not only protected him, but Daniel continued to prosper under king Darius.

REFLECTION: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”, (Ephesians 6:12).

Tim Chambers