Good Counsel
Good Counsel?
How do those around you influence you? The people you choose to spend time with can impact you in many ways. In 1 Samuel 9, we see the account of Saul and his servant. If you just read through this section, you may overlook the key role that this servant played in God, bringing Saul to Samuel to be anointed as king.
Saul was searching for his father’s lost donkeys, and after having no luck, he wanted to turn back for fear his father was worried. Saul’s servant urged him to go into the city they were in and find a seer, someone who spoke for God. Saul went and met the seer, who turned out to be Samuel. God had told Samuel that he would provide him a man to anoint and rule over Israel, and Saul was that man. Because Saul listened to his servant, who urged him to seek a man of God to help them with their task, he became the instrument God used to rule the people of Israel. This servant guided Saul straight into the hands of God to fulfill God’s will.
When you think of the people you spend the most time with and consider close to you, do you consider them to be urging you to seek wisdom from God or to follow your heart and do what you desire? This servant played a crucial role in an event that would change the course of history for the Israelite people. Are the people you let guide and counsel you pushing you toward God?
When it comes to choosing those you let counsel and guide you, scripture tells us what man will be blessed depending on his counselors, saying, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). Choose your counsel with care.
Challenge
Look at those who give you advice and see if their counsel matches God’s word.
Read Psalm 1 this week and meditate on its words.