1 Samuel 6:20–7:4

And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?” So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up with you.”

Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

The historical books of the Old Testament, like all historical accounts, don’t compress time uniformly. Many pages can cover the events of a single afternoon. Yet the next passage can be a brief account like, “So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

When you hit a brief description of a long span of time, pause to consider its magnitude. Here, a whole generation has grown up under lamentation after the LORD. That mindset has practically soaked into their DNA. In a sense, the fields are white for harvest.

The other thing that makes the fields white for harvest is Samuel’s reputation. When Samuel speaks, people listen. So, the stage is set perfectly for him to call all the house of Israel to repentance.

And thus the call doesn’t land on deaf ears.

Modern evangelism and calls to repentance are subject to the same rules. A repentant attitude takes a while to form. Twenty years isn’t unusual for this kind of attitude adjustment. It might be a little quicker nowadays (what isn’t?), but it still takes time.

This applies to both large and small scales. A nation’s attitude takes a while to change. A person’s attitude takes a while to change. Your personal mission field’s attitude takes a while to change.

This can be annoying, but there’s one advantage—slower things are easier to track. Attitudes usually don’t evolve too fast for you to keep up.

The other thing that’s the same today as back then is the slow growth of reputation. It takes time to earn the right to be heard. Don’t rush the message; the LORD’s timetable is long.

Preaching the gospel before the right time expends something. Be sensitive to the LORD’s leading.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.