1 Samuel begins with the story of Hannah. She was the wife of a man named Elkanah. Elkanah had one other wife also whose name was Peninnah. Peninnah was able to bear children. Hannah, as we know, was unable to. She was barren. Well, in their customs, when a woman could not have children she would be considered worthless. Afterall, women were already lower than men and when you add to that barrenness, then what use is a woman?
Elkanah was a man of God. He would go to the temple yearly and offer sacrifices to the Lord there. When he sacrificed, he would give a portion to Peninnah and her sons and daughters. However, to Hannah he would give double portions, showing to her that he still loved her even if she didn't bear children. As the years went by Hannah got tired of seeing Peninnah bear children while she bore none. She was heartbroken. No matter what she did, she could not conceive a child. She stopped eating and started weeping. This caused Elkanah to be distressed. He turned to her and asked her what the problem was, why she was so distraught that she would quit eating. He was perplexed. "Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
God showed me how this relates to Him and our spiritual condition. We are married to Christ. Sometimes we have problems of sin habits that we can't conquer. We can't produce fruit of perfection. (Note that I don't believe in sinless perfection can be obtained and never dealt with again, but rather sinlessness can be a perpetual state that you fight for. You choose to sin, therefore theoretically you can choose not to sin continually.) However, while we are struggling with being barren, there are other people we see that have it made. They have many overcome sins. They have the social thumbs-up for their productive lives. And yet we get looked down upon for not bearing. That's when God gives us grace. He gives us special things like grace so that we can avoid believing God is loving us because He has to, but because He wants to.
Hannah could not bear children. She had to come to the point where she simply had to trust in God to provide for her a son. She knew it wasn't her husbands fault--Peninnah bore children. Therefore it was all on her. But, if you think logically, the only way for her to even be "eligible" to have a child is if she pursued a relationship with her husband. If she didn't, there would be no children. Logical. She had to do her part and trust God to come in and do his: take away her barrenness.
So is true with our situations. We cannot possibly ever bear the fruit of perfection if we do not pursue a relationship with God. If we simply stop going to God, then we will never overcome sin and we will never bear fruit. We must pursue a relationship with God and allow Him to bear the fruit in us.
And just like Elkanah looked at Hannah and asked "Am I not more to you than ten sons," God asks us a simpler question. "Am I not worth more to you than overcoming sin?" Our pursuit should not be to be free from sin. Our pursuit is to love God and better our relationship with Him. We ought to view God as being much more to us than having overcome ten sin habits.
God wants us to be free from sin. So He will bear those fruits in us. It isn't a question of whether he will or not. It is a matter of whether we will pursue a relationship with God. We cannot ever bear fruits of righteouesness if we never pursue a relationship with God. We must do our part by loving Him and pursuing Him alone. He will deal with the rest.
Elkanah was a man of God. He would go to the temple yearly and offer sacrifices to the Lord there. When he sacrificed, he would give a portion to Peninnah and her sons and daughters. However, to Hannah he would give double portions, showing to her that he still loved her even if she didn't bear children. As the years went by Hannah got tired of seeing Peninnah bear children while she bore none. She was heartbroken. No matter what she did, she could not conceive a child. She stopped eating and started weeping. This caused Elkanah to be distressed. He turned to her and asked her what the problem was, why she was so distraught that she would quit eating. He was perplexed. "Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
God showed me how this relates to Him and our spiritual condition. We are married to Christ. Sometimes we have problems of sin habits that we can't conquer. We can't produce fruit of perfection. (Note that I don't believe in sinless perfection can be obtained and never dealt with again, but rather sinlessness can be a perpetual state that you fight for. You choose to sin, therefore theoretically you can choose not to sin continually.) However, while we are struggling with being barren, there are other people we see that have it made. They have many overcome sins. They have the social thumbs-up for their productive lives. And yet we get looked down upon for not bearing. That's when God gives us grace. He gives us special things like grace so that we can avoid believing God is loving us because He has to, but because He wants to.
Hannah could not bear children. She had to come to the point where she simply had to trust in God to provide for her a son. She knew it wasn't her husbands fault--Peninnah bore children. Therefore it was all on her. But, if you think logically, the only way for her to even be "eligible" to have a child is if she pursued a relationship with her husband. If she didn't, there would be no children. Logical. She had to do her part and trust God to come in and do his: take away her barrenness.
So is true with our situations. We cannot possibly ever bear the fruit of perfection if we do not pursue a relationship with God. If we simply stop going to God, then we will never overcome sin and we will never bear fruit. We must pursue a relationship with God and allow Him to bear the fruit in us.
And just like Elkanah looked at Hannah and asked "Am I not more to you than ten sons," God asks us a simpler question. "Am I not worth more to you than overcoming sin?" Our pursuit should not be to be free from sin. Our pursuit is to love God and better our relationship with Him. We ought to view God as being much more to us than having overcome ten sin habits.
God wants us to be free from sin. So He will bear those fruits in us. It isn't a question of whether he will or not. It is a matter of whether we will pursue a relationship with God. We cannot ever bear fruits of righteouesness if we never pursue a relationship with God. We must do our part by loving Him and pursuing Him alone. He will deal with the rest.
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