Entrusted in God’s care
An AI Devotional Experiment:
I’ve been interested in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a while now. It's fascinating the stuff that it can come up with, and I’ve found it to be a very valuable search tool when I just need quick info… like who were the wide receivers on the Joe Burrow-led LSU National Championship team (Jamaar Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terrace Marshall Jr… in addition to Clyde Edwards Helaire at RB… that team was stacked). But I digress… I’ve also found AI helpful when I'm trying to remember a Bible reference by just a short phrase. Or trying to think of a few verses that follow a particular theme like “The righteousness of God” or “God’s Reign”… AI is a great tool for research.
Today I was curious what it would come up with if I asked it to actually write a devotional based on the lectionary texts. The texts are from I Samuel 2:1-10; 1 Samuel 1:21-28; and I Timothy 6:11-21. We’ve essentially got two main characters in these passages: Hannah (the mother of Samuel) and Timothy. Before I say more, here’s what Chat GPT came up with for a devotional:
“Devotional: Entrusted to God’s Care
1 Samuel 1:27-28 “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord.”
1 Timothy 6:11 “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”
In the stories of Hannah and Timothy, we find profound examples of what it means to entrust everything to God. Hannah, who prayed fervently for a child, receives her answer in Samuel. Yet instead of clinging to her precious gift, she keeps her promise by dedicating Samuel back to the Lord. She holds him loosely, knowing that her deepest joy is found in God’s faithfulness, not just in the gift itself.
Paul’s words to Timothy reflect a similar call to faithful dedication. Timothy is urged to flee from the snares of the world and instead “fight the good fight” of faith, pursuing a life fully devoted to God. Both Hannah’s story and Paul’s encouragement to Timothy call us to live our lives open-handedly, fully surrendered to the God who has blessed us. Like the pattern we see in the gospel story, there are four movements here
1. Blessing – Hannah receives a gift from God; Timothy is given faith and calling. In each, we see God’s hand first, blessing His people with something we don’t deserve, whether a new life or a new purpose.
2. Response – Hannah doesn’t hold tightly to her gift; instead, she releases Samuel back to God, recognizing that all we have comes from Him. Paul encourages Timothy to do the same, dedicating his life in response to the calling he’s received.
3. Sacrifice – Hannah’s dedication isn’t easy—she gives up something precious, just as Timothy is asked to fight the good fight. Here, we’re reminded of Christ, who gave His life fully for us. Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice was to lay down His life so we could be united with God.
4. Sending – Hannah’s story ends with a lifetime of Samuel serving God, while Paul’s letter closes with a call for Timothy to live out his faith as an example. In Jesus, we see both the sending and the mission. After His resurrection, Jesus commissions us to be sent, to live our lives as a testimony to His love and faithfulness.
God has blessed us in Christ beyond what we could ever imagine. We respond to that blessing by offering our lives back to Him, trusting that, like Hannah and Timothy, He’s calling us to join Him in His work.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the example of Hannah, Timothy, and most of all, Yourself. Help us to live in response to Your goodness, dedicating our lives back to You. In Your strength, let us be faithful witnesses to Your grace. Amen.”
Alright, I’ve gotta say, that’s not actually too bad. I appreciate that the AI patterned the devotional after the shape of the Gospel Story - God’s blessing, our response, Jesus’ sacrifice, and the church’s sending. I did feed it some of my previous writing and asked it to emulate my style, and it did pick up on the fact that I use that type of form a lot, so it tried.
I do think the Christian life is meant to be patterned after the life of Jesus, the act of daily taking up our cross is vital to living like Christ. The act of daily dying to our old self and living into our new identity in Christ is key. “Slaying our sin” as the song goes, is done, however, by grace and grace alone, not by our own power. I wish the AI would’ve included a bit more about that—living empowered by the Spirit, not just trying to strong-arm ourselves into Christian obedience, because that does not work.
So Christian, yes emulate Hannah and her sacrificial service, emulate Timothy and his fighting of the good fight, but more, emulate Jesus—take up your cross and follow him—but not so that you might earn salvation, but rather because salvation has been given to you by grace through faith which is a free gift from God. That being said, you cannot strong-arm Christian obedience, you must rely on the Spirit of God.