1 Samuel 2:17 (NKJV)

“Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.”

How we behave, has long-lasting impressions on how people respond to God. People are watching those who call themselves Christ Followers. As priests, God has set us up for the world to see and emulate. Even when the people do not seem to be observing us, they actually are. They are watching how we respond to things. They are watching how we relate to one another. They are watching how we deal with difficult people and difficult situations. They are watching how we worship and relate with God. They are watching.

The sons of Eli were only concerned with doing what they felt like doing. They “treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt” (NLT). They did not care that people were watching them. And God was angry because their wayward lifestyles were setting precedence and patterns for others to also treat the Lord’s offerings with contempt. As children of God and leaders in the Body, we are not free to act as we wish. We should constantly be aware that we are being watched and our actions or inactions could lead people either closer to or farther away from God. People draw nearer to God when they observe our godly lifestyles. People draw away from God when they watch our disobedient disregard for God’s decrees. We are not our own. We belong to God, and we belong to the people. We have to live in the awareness that we are molding and shaping destinies by our daily actions.