Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. – 1 Samuel 12:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 26, 2019): 1 Samuel 12

College Basketball coach Abe Lemons said that “the trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” I have heard the same thing from a lot of retirees, along with the amazing thought that they are busier now that they are retired than they were when they were still at work. The expectation seems to be that since they are no longer at work, why can’t they help out with the need of the day. Which often means that they are even more in need of the day off that they never seem to get until, finally, sickness forces the issue.

In our mind, as we read this passage, it sounds to us that Samuel is retiring. He was old and grey, and now his sons were men. Samuel had ably led Israel from his youth until this day of his retirement. But it is more likely that Samuel felt like he was being fired and discarded by the nation. Samuel is hurt. He is saying goodbye, but not because he feels it is time to retire, but because the nation has thrown him away and told him it was time to leave.

But that was not God’s message. As far as God is concerned, Samuel, the last Judge of Israel, may have finished his career, but the task of Samuel, the Prophet of God, was continuing on into the foreseeable future. Saul might pretend that he was leading the nation, but the truth was that God was going to monitor Israel’s grand political experiment and transition into a monarchy; and through the mouth of the Prophet Samuel, would continue to speak truth to Israel and truth to power that would be represented by Saul and his court.

And Samuel’s truth is our truth as well. No matter whether we have retired or been forced out of the “work for pay” world, we continue to be led by God. We understand that even when we are old and grey, and our kids have grown up to be adults, God still has a job for us. And through us, he can speak his wisdom and his love to the world if we will let him. We never retire from his kingdom until the moment that he decides to take us home.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 13