Stop Pressing the Cable Box Button

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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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello.
Hello.
You're listening to the JesseMorgan Devotions for the
Christian Heart Podcast, episode64.
This week's devotional istitled Stop Pressing the Cable
Box Button, let's go.
Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan.
I used to just share home decorand renovation tips on social
media, but now I'm sharingsomething even closer to my

(00:21):
heart my journey and love forJesus Christ, my Savior.
Welcome to the Jesse MorganDevotions for the Christian Hot
Podcast.
This is a weekly devotional.
I started back in May 2024, butthe inspiration for it came
much earlier.
It was rooted in a faithjourney that began when my
daughter was born four monthsearly in 2023.
Through that challenging time,god worked in ways that truly

(00:43):
amazed me.
On this podcast, I sharepersonal stories of faith, woven
together with scripture to showjust how incredible God's word
can be in our everyday lives.
My hope is that through thesestories, you'll be encouraged,
uplifted and reminded of God'slove and presence, no matter
what you're going through.
So I invite you to spend lessthan 15 minutes with me each

(01:05):
week as we reflect on thesedevotionals together.
Let's all pray within.
Stop pressing the cable boxbutton.
Key passages 1 Samuel 2, 12through 1 Samuel 4, 1.
Hello, everyone, and welcomeback to the podcast.

(01:26):
I'm excited for this week'sepisode.
I'm just really excited toshare this one.
This one was very near and dearand special, made me laugh and
made me really look at thingsdifferently.
Hopefully it is for you.
So let's start.
Have you ever been at arestaurant, a grocery store, the

(01:46):
mall, anywhere really and seena kid just completely act out
like full-blown tantrum?
I hope that doesn't happen tome one day and the parent is
standing there, either unsure ofwhat to do or trying everything
they can to calm them down?
We've all seen it or we've allexperienced it, right.

(02:07):
That awkward moment, thatchaotic energy.
It's unforgettable and,honestly, that visual sums up a
bit of what we're diving into.
This week we're continuing ourstudy of the book of 1 Samuel,
and last week we focused onHannah, samuel's mother.
She's an amazing woman of faithwho kept her promise to God by

(02:28):
dedicating Samuel to serve inthe tabernacle and serve the
Lord.
And Samuel, he's going to be amajor figure in this story.
As I've said before, he's thelast judge and a great prophet
for Israel.
But this week I want to shiftthe spotlight a bit.
We're going to talk about Eli.
Eli is the high priest at thetabernacle, a Levite and a

(02:51):
descendant of Aaron.
He held a very importantposition in Israel, someone
deeply respected and close tothe Lord.
And, to be honest, I didn'tknow much about Eli for a long
time.
I knew of him, sure, but notthe person of Eli, and the more
I studied, the more it justreally opened my eyes.

(03:12):
Didn't know this about him.
So Eli becomes a mentor toSamuel.
When Hannah brought Samuel tothe tabernacle, it was Eli who
raised and guided him in serviceto the Lord, referring to
Samuel.
And Eli, on the surface, was agood priest, but there's a
tragic side to his story.

(03:32):
He had two sons and y'all theywere wicked.
I'm talking sleeping with womenat the entrance of the
tabernacle, stealing sacrifices,taking bribes, and it was bad.
And they were priests liketheir dad.
And the people of Israel knewit.
They saw the corruption.
They looked at Eli like theseare your sons, are you letting

(03:55):
this happen?
Now scripture says Eli knew whathis sons were doing.
It says in 1 Samuel 2, 22through 25,.
It says now Eli, who was old,heard about everything his sons
were doing to all Israel and howthey slept with women who
served at the entrance to thetent of the meeting.
So he said to them why do youdo such things?
I hear from all the peopleabout these wicked deeds of

(04:17):
yours.
No, my sons, the report I hearspreading among the Lord's
people is not good.
If one person sins againstanother, god will mediate for
the offender, but if anyone sinsagainst the Lord, you will
intercede.
Who will intercede for them?
His sons, however, did notlisten to their dad's rebuke,
for it was the Lord's will toput them to death.

(04:39):
So, as you can see that Elieven spoke to his sons and told
them that it was wrong what theywere doing.
But that's where it ended.
He never took action, he didn'tremove them, he didn't
discipline them and because ofthat, their sin continued and
got worse.
Meanwhile, samuel is growing upin this environment, doing well,

(05:02):
doing the Lord's work, and onenight, while Eli is old, nearly
blind and asleep, the Lord callsout to Samuel, and that's in 1
Samuel 3, 8 through 10.
I'm just going to do a littlebit of a paraphrase to this, but
here it goes.
Samuel thinks that Eli'scalling him.
He's sleeping and he hears aSamuel, samuel.

(05:24):
And he thinks that Eli'scalling him.
But after the third time, elirealized that God was calling
Samuel and he told Samuel to goback and say Speak, lord, for
your servant is listening.
That moment changed Samuel'slife.
God speaks to him and confirmshis future as a prophet, but

(05:45):
also tells him about theheartbreaking news of Eli's
legacy and how Eli's legacy isabout to come to an end.
His family line won't continueto be in the priesthood.
It's a heavy judgment and youmight think golly, that's so
harsh, lord, you know with Eli.
But let's be honest.

(06:06):
If Eli's sons were that wickedas adults, what do you think
their childhood look like?
Wicked as adults, what do youthink their childhood looked
like?
Eli failed to discipline them,not just once, but consistently.
He acknowledged their sin buthe never acted on it.

(06:29):
And that brings me to a littlestory about my daughter.
She's almost two now and she'scute as a button, but definitely
hitting the terrible twos phase.
She's cute but she's gettingterrible.
My parents so anyways, wealways go to visit my parents.
My parents have the TV and theyhave a cable box with a little
blue light on it and she isobsessed with it For months.
Every time we visit, she goesover there, presses the button.

(06:51):
It turns off the TV.
She walks around and then comesback and turns it back on again
.
My parents think it's thecutest thing and honestly I did
at first.
But recently she was playingover at my aunt's best friend's
house someone I love and trustdearly with my daughter, and
while her husband was watchinghis Westerns, my daughter went

(07:14):
over and started turning offtheir cable box all day long.
They missed the endings of fourshows four and when I went to
pick her up they laughed andsaid she kept turning off the TV
.
I laughed too, but then Irealized that's a problem.
I apologized about a hundredtimes and said we have to break

(07:37):
that habit and it really got tobe.
If I don't correct this now,she'll be eight thinking it's
funny.
That's why I started gentlystopping her, blocking the box
and redirecting her when we'reat my parents' house.
It might seem like a small thing, but small habits turn into big
behaviors, and that's the samething Eli failed to do.

(08:01):
He let his sons keep pressingthe cable box, spiritually
speaking, and only would saystop, 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.

(08:24):
If something tempts you, don'tstay in it.
Flee, just like Joseph did whenPotiphar's wife tried to make a
pass at him.
He didn't try to explain, heran.
Sometimes that's what obediencelooks like.
I'll tell you one more funnylittle story that kind of can

(08:44):
tie this all up.
My mom had a manicurist that weloved when I was young younger
and her son the manicurist.
Her son, who was about 18 atthe time, had a girlfriend.
He was invited over to meet herparents for dinner and they
served steak.
Well, he didn't know how to cuthis own meat.
I'm serious, he had no idea howto cut a steak.

(09:07):
The mom had to show him how touse a knife and a fork to even
cut it up, and even had to cutit up for him.
Later my manicurist finishedthe story and my mom asked her
why doesn't he know how to cuthis meat?
Why does he know how to do that?
And her manicurist said becauseI always do it for him.

(09:30):
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 hewas?
Sitting at his girlfriend'shouse and he didn't know how to
cut his steak.
I don't even know how thatlooks.
So, basically, our manicuristmy mom's manicurist babied her

(09:53):
son for so long that he neverlearned basic responsibility,
like cutting his own stake.
And while that story is funny,it's also a real example of what
happens when we don't equip ourchildren, or people that we
lead, we stand or we lead tostand on their own.
Eli was cutting his son's stakeall the way to their

(10:16):
destruction.
So today I just want toencourage you, whether you're a
parent, a mentor, a leader orjust walking your own faith
journey, acknowledge the sin,but also act, course, correct,
redirect.
You don't have to yell orcondemn, but you have to respond
, and responding can be prayertoo, by the way, because if we

(10:41):
ignore sin or we sugarcoat it orwe just say don't do that,
without any follow-up, we riskour legacy, we risk the
blessings God has for us.
God may need to cut somethingoff in your life, not out of
punishment, but out ofprotection, possibly.

(11:07):
Don't be an Eli.
Don't settle for the sin.
Be a Samuel.
Really follow the path that Godhas for you, call out the
things that are not right andput some actions behind it.
And put some actions behind it,and soon.
You know we are going to talkabout David and I hope Eli's
story really opened your eyestoday.
But, like I said, we're goingto continue this study of first

(11:30):
Samuel and we're going to talkabout David.
And David wasn't perfect, buthe always repented.
He would make a mistake, a sin,and he would acknowledge it and
repent, and that's what madehim so different.
That's why he was a man afterGod's own heart.
Love you all, till next time.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank you somuch for the study of Eli Such a

(11:51):
tragic figure in the end andhow 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 sinand to act on it, and I hope
that this inspires others thatare listening as well.

(12:12):
Bless everyone who listened tothis podcast this week.
Father, thank you so much forthe study of 1 Samuel.
Thank you for your love andcompassion.
We love you and we praise youin Jesus' name, amen.
Love you all Till next time.
Well, that wraps up this week'sepisode.
I hope these devotions help youdraw closer to God each day.

(12:32):
If this episode encouraged you,please share it with someone
who might need the same message,and don't forget to subscribe
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For more information or toreach out, check the show notes
or visit jessimorganhomecom orfind me on Instagram at

(12:54):
jessimorganlife.
Remember God's timing is alwaysperfect.
Keep trusting him Until nexttime.
This is Jessi Morgan prayingoff.