1 Samuel 4:21 (NIV) She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

Back in the days of the Prophet Samuel, the people of Israel were living sinful lives and worshipping other gods. The priest in office at the time, Eli, had put his sons Hophni and Phinehas in charge of the Temple duties. They were very sinful as well, seducing the women who would go to the Temple to make sacrifices to God and even taking the best portions of the meat that was to be sacrificed to the Lord for themselves. Eli knew what was going on with his sons but did nothing to stop them. During this time, Israel was in constant conflict with the Philistines. One day the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines and they were defeated, losing 4,000 men in battle. They wondered why God would allow them to be defeated. Instead of realizing that they were not in good standing with God and that they should just cut their losses, they came up with the brilliant idea of taking the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them, chaperoned by none other than Hophni and Phinehas, the two very sinful priests. It seemed as though they were considering the Ark to be some kind of good luck charm that would ensure the victory for them. They quickly found out that you cannot trifle with God and that you cannot impose your will on Him.

Many people today treat God as a good luck charm without realizing it. Some wear a cross around their neck, thinking that they are protected by doing so. Others keep a Bible open on the living room coffee table as if that Bible will ward off anything bad or evil in the home. Of course, none of those things have any protective or spiritual value. God is a God who looks at the heart. If your heart is not right with God, then nothing that you do outwardly will mean anything or have any value in directing or protecting you. The Israelites not only lost 30,000 men in battle that day, but the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and Hophni and Phineas lost their lives as well. Judgement came on Eli the priest and he died as he fell over in his chair and broke his neck when he heard that the Ark of the Lord had been captured. Finally, the wife of Phinehas, as she lay dying from a rough childbirth, named her son Ichabod, which means that the glory had departed. It certainly had. God and the things of God are to be taken seriously. They are not good luck charms. Going to church every Sunday won't help you if you are not living right outside of church.

Don't allow the glory of God to depart from your life by not being honest and genuine with the Lord. Don't fall into the trap of religiosity, believing that if you do certain outward things, you will be covered. Instead, serve the Lord wholeheartedly and He will direct you, defend you and protect you and you won't need a worthless good luck charm to ensure victory in your life.

Pastor Joey Vazquez