Taking God for Granted

1 Samuel 4 exposes the danger of reducing God to someone or something we can utilize when things get tough rather than honouring His holy presence in the whole of our lives. Misplaced faith, no matter how enthusiastic, will not save us. Taking the very thing that was given to teach them about God's holiness, mercy, and glory – the Ark of the Covenant – and using it as though it had some magical power to deliver them, without any change of heart in themselves, was never going to end well. Neither will it end well if we seek to utilize the name and power of Christ in a similar way.