I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 8-10.

    I mentioned at the beginning of this book that Samuel’s sons turned out similar to Eli’s sons. The way the sons of these two men turned out should be a warning for those fathers who accept leadership positions in the Church (and elsewhere). I will not go into that farther than this. The thing which truly struck me about this passage is the description of Saul’s father:

There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin.

Then a few sentences later this:

His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.

When the people first came to Samuel for a king, this was what they were looking for, a tall, handsome man from an influential family. All too often this is what we look for in leaders. There is nothing inherently wrong with selecting leaders from among the handsome offspring of influential families. People who are tall and good looking often develop leadership capabilities. And often times the reason a family is influential is because they have shown leadership qualities, which they may have taught to their children. However, people who are tall and handsome, and people from influential families, have often learned to use their leadership abilities to advance their own interests rather than that of their followers. I want to be careful here because I genuinely believe that Saul was a good man and a good leader. It was only after he had been king for awhile that he began to mistake what was in his own interest for what was in the interest of Israel as a whole.