Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast
Jessi Morgan in 2023 had a traumatic experience that shaped how she views life and her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God has laid it on her heart to share her experiences and inspire others to put God first in every aspect of their life like she finally did in hers. Having her daughter born 4 months early really made Jessi lean on the Lord for comfort and guidance. And today she stands here starting her own 10-15 minute podcast focusing on weekly devotionals about what God can do for you and what He's done for her.
Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast
Stop Pressing the Cable Box Button
Text if you need me? Prayer or just need encouragement…
The heartbreaking legacy of Eli reveals a warning for all believers. Despite his prestigious position as Israel's high priest and Samuel's mentor, Eli's life ended in tragedy—not because he failed to recognize his sons' wickedness, but because he never moved beyond words to action.
Drawing from 1 Samuel 2-4, I unpack how Eli's passive parenting style allowed his sons to desecrate the tabernacle through theft, bribery, and sexual immorality. When confronted with their sin, Eli merely offered verbal rebukes without consequences, ultimately leading to God's judgment against his entire household.
This Biblical account resonated powerfully with my own parenting journey.
The spiritual implications are profound. We often recognize sin in our lives or others', but stop short of taking corrective action. Whether we're parents, leaders, or simply managing our personal faith journey, God calls us beyond acknowledgment to decisive response.
What "cable box buttons" are you pressing in your spiritual life? Subscribe now to continue our journey through 1 Samuel as we explore Samuel, Saul, Nathan, & David and more!
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Hello.
Speaker 1:Hello. You're listening to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast, episode 64. This week's devotional is titled Stop Pressing the Cable Box Button, let's go. Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan. I used to just share home decor and renovation tips on social media, but now I'm sharing something even closer to my heart my journey and love for Jesus Christ, my Savior. Welcome to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Hot Podcast.
Speaker 1:This is a weekly devotional. I started back in May 2024, but the inspiration for it came much earlier. It was rooted in a faith journey that began when my daughter was born four months early in 2023. Through that challenging time, god worked in ways that truly amazed me. On this podcast, I share personal stories of faith, woven together with scripture to show just how incredible God's word can be in our everyday lives. My hope is that through these stories, you'll be encouraged, uplifted and reminded of God's love and presence, no matter what you're going through. So I invite you to spend less than 15 minutes with me each week as we reflect on these devotionals together. Let's all pray within. Stop pressing the cable box button. Key passages 1 Samuel 2, 12 through 1 Samuel 4, 1. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm excited for this week's episode. I'm just really excited to share this one. This one was very near and dear and special, made me laugh and made me really look at things differently. Hopefully it is for you. So let's start. Have you ever been at a restaurant, a grocery store, the mall, anywhere really and seen a kid just completely act out like full-blown tantrum? I hope that doesn't happen to me one day and the parent is standing there, either unsure of what to do or trying everything they can to calm them down? We've all seen it or we've all experienced it, right. That awkward moment, that chaotic energy. It's unforgettable and, honestly, that visual sums up a bit of what we're diving into.
Speaker 1:This week we're continuing our study of the book of 1 Samuel, and last week we focused on Hannah, samuel's mother. She's an amazing woman of faith who kept her promise to God by dedicating Samuel to serve in the tabernacle and serve the Lord. And Samuel, he's going to be a major figure in this story. As I've said before, he's the last judge and a great prophet for Israel. But this week I want to shift the spotlight a bit. We're going to talk about Eli.
Speaker 1:Eli is the high priest at the tabernacle, a Levite and a descendant of Aaron. He held a very important position in Israel, someone deeply respected and close to the Lord. And, to be honest, I didn't know much about Eli for a long time. I knew of him, sure, but not the person of Eli, and the more I studied, the more it just really opened my eyes. Didn't know this about him. So Eli becomes a mentor to Samuel.
Speaker 1:When Hannah brought Samuel to the tabernacle, it was Eli who raised and guided him in service to the Lord, referring to Samuel. And Eli, on the surface, was a good priest, but there's a tragic side to his story. He had two sons and y'all they were wicked. I'm talking sleeping with women at the entrance of the tabernacle, stealing sacrifices, taking bribes, and it was bad. And they were priests like their dad. And the people of Israel knew it. They saw the corruption. They looked at Eli like these are your sons, are you letting this happen?
Speaker 1:Now scripture says Eli knew what his sons were doing. It says in 1 Samuel 2, 22 through 25,. It says now Eli, who was old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with women who served at the entrance to the tent of the meeting. So he said to them why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons, the report I hear spreading among the Lord's people is not good. If one person sins against another, god will mediate for the offender, but if anyone sins against the Lord, you will intercede. Who will intercede for them? His sons, however, did not listen to their dad's rebuke, for it was the Lord's will to put them to death. So, as you can see that Eli even spoke to his sons and told them that it was wrong what they were doing. But that's where it ended. He never took action, he didn't remove them, he didn't discipline them and because of that, their sin continued and got worse.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, samuel is growing up in this environment, doing well, doing the Lord's work, and one night, while Eli is old, nearly blind and asleep, the Lord calls out to Samuel, and that's in 1 Samuel 3, 8 through 10. I'm just going to do a little bit of a paraphrase to this, but here it goes. Samuel thinks that Eli's calling him. He's sleeping and he hears a Samuel, samuel. And he thinks that Eli's calling him. But after the third time, eli realized that God was calling Samuel and he told Samuel to go back and say Speak, lord, for your servant is listening. That moment changed Samuel's life. God speaks to him and confirms his future as a prophet, but also tells him about the heartbreaking news of Eli's legacy and how Eli's legacy is about to come to an end. His family line won't continue to be in the priesthood.
Speaker 1:It's a heavy judgment and you might think golly, that's so harsh, lord, you know with Eli. But let's be honest. If Eli's sons were that wicked as adults, what do you think their childhood look like? Wicked as adults, what do you think their childhood looked like? Eli failed to discipline them, not just once, but consistently. He acknowledged their sin but he never acted on it.
Speaker 1:And that brings me to a little story about my daughter. She's almost two now and she's cute as a button, but definitely hitting the terrible twos phase. She's cute but she's getting terrible. My parents so anyways, we always go to visit my parents. My parents have the TV and they have a cable box with a little blue light on it and she is obsessed with it For months. Every time we visit, she goes over there, presses the button. It turns off the TV. She walks around and then comes back and turns it back on again. My parents think it's the cutest thing and honestly I did at first. But recently she was playing over at my aunt's best friend's house someone I love and trust dearly with my daughter, and while her husband was watching his Westerns, my daughter went over and started turning off their cable box all day long. They missed the endings of four shows four and when I went to pick her up they laughed and said she kept turning off the TV. I laughed too, but then I realized that's a problem. I apologized about a hundred times and said we have to break that habit and it really got to be. If I don't correct this now, she'll be eight thinking it's funny. That's why I started gently stopping her, blocking the box and redirecting her when we're at my parents' house.
Speaker 1:It might seem like a small thing, but small habits turn into big behaviors, and that's the same thing Eli failed to do. He let his sons keep pressing the cable box, spiritually speaking, and only would say stop, but never followed through with action. He didn't discipline. And if you don't discipline sin, you won't stop it. Acknowledging it isn't enough, you have to act. That goes for our own lives too. If something tempts you, don't stay in it. Flee, just like Joseph did when Potiphar's wife tried to make a pass at him. He didn't try to explain, he ran. Sometimes that's what obedience looks like.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you one more funny little story that kind of can tie this all up. My mom had a manicurist that we loved when I was young younger and her son the manicurist. Her son, who was about 18 at the time, had a girlfriend. He was invited over to meet her parents for dinner and they served steak. Well, he didn't know how to cut his own meat. I'm serious, he had no idea how to cut a steak. The mom had to show him how to use a knife and a fork to even cut it up, and even had to cut it up for him. Later my manicurist finished the story and my mom asked her why doesn't he know how to cut his meat? Why does he know how to do that? And her manicurist said because I always do it for him. I cut his steak, all his meat, at home, at restaurants, everywhere. I do it all the time, Y'all. He was 18. Do you know how mortified he was? Sitting at his girlfriend's house and he didn't know how to cut his steak. I don't even know how that looks. So, basically, our manicurist my mom's manicurist babied her son for so long that he never learned basic responsibility, like cutting his own stake.
Speaker 1:And while that story is funny, it's also a real example of what happens when we don't equip our children, or people that we lead, we stand or we lead to stand on their own. Eli was cutting his son's stake all the way to their destruction. So today I just want to encourage you, whether you're a parent, a mentor, a leader or just walking your own faith journey, acknowledge the sin, but also act, course, correct, redirect. You don't have to yell or condemn, but you have to respond, and responding can be prayer too, by the way, because if we ignore sin or we sugarcoat it or we just say don't do that, without any follow-up, we risk our legacy, we risk the blessings God has for us. God may need to cut something off in your life, not out of punishment, but out of protection, possibly. Don't be an Eli. Don't settle for the sin. Be a Samuel. Really follow the path that God has for you, call out the things that are not right and put some actions behind it. And put some actions behind it, and soon.
Speaker 1:You know we are going to talk about David and I hope Eli's story really opened your eyes today. But, like I said, we're going to continue this study of first Samuel and we're going to talk about David. And David wasn't perfect, but he always repented. He would make a mistake, a sin, and he would acknowledge it and repent, and that's what made him so different. That's why he was a man after God's own heart. Love you all, till next time. Let's pray.
Speaker 1:Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the study of Eli Such a tragic figure in the end and how much promise he had, but he didn't discipline his children, he didn't call out the sin and act on it. And, lord, I come to you today, me as one of your children that helped me to call out the sin and to act on it, and I hope that this inspires others that are listening as well. Bless everyone who listened to this podcast this week. Father, thank you so much for the study of 1 Samuel. Thank you for your love and compassion. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen. Love you all Till next time.
Speaker 1:Well, that wraps up this week's episode. I hope these devotions help you draw closer to God each day. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need the same message, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a weekly episode. Also, if you feel compelled, leaving a nice review would be so appreciated as well. For more information or to reach out, check the show notes or visit jessimorganhomecom or find me on Instagram at jessimorganlife. Remember God's timing is always perfect. Keep trusting him Until next time. This is Jessi Morgan praying off.
