Lather, rinse, repeat, the instruction frequently found on shampoo bottles, has become a meme for the problem of getting stuck in a self-repeating cycle. Taken literally the person would stand in the shower going through that endless cycle until the shampoo was all gone. Then what to do: get another bottle and lather, rinse, repeat or get out and move on with your day? It has also become a metaphor for slavishly following instructions or procedures without independent thought. Sadly much of our culture is based on that concept. Not just in day to day life, but in long term cycles as well. One generation faces difficulties and challenges, and overcomes them. The next generation recreates the difficulties and challenges, forcing the subsequent one to rise up and overcome them again.

This principle applies in the spiritual arena as well. For example, when Eli was judging Israel as the High Priest he was a good man, but his sons, Hophni and Pinehas, were evil. They so corrupted the worship of God that he let them be killed, the ark captured, and Israel languish for 20 years w/out true worship. Samuel, who was a boy when they died, and had been trained by Eli, grew up and was sent by God to bring the nation back to him and overthrow the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:1-14). During his time as judge of Israel he did a great job and was honored for his service to God and the nation (1 Samuel 7:15).

But it was lather, rinse, repeat because his sons repeated the cycle. The text doesn't explain why, but for some reason instead of following their dad Samuel’s sons followed the path of Eli’s sons, the path of rebellion against God (1 Samuel 8:1-3). Ah, but the nation refused to repeat. Remembering the disaster of Hophni and Phinehas that lead to their defeat and the capture of the ark the people were not going down that path again so they rose up and demanded a change, a correction in advance if you will. They rejected Samuel's sons and demanded a king (1 Samuel 8:4-5).

We’ll talk about the people’s mistake later, but today some thoughts on Samuel, who clearly failed to break the cycle because he lost his sons. Why? Could it be that he simply failed to understand the corruption of the culture? As a child of the 60's (born in 1960) it is clear to me that my parents' generation failed to understand the corruption infecting the 50's and 60's and much of my generation went the path of Samuel's sons. But, rather than judge our parents harshly recognize that we too can make the same mistake. Ladies and gentlemen, if you love God and want to serve him with all your heart please, please, please, recognize this world’s influence on your children and immerse them in God. That’s the only way to keep them from getting stuck in lather, rinse, repeat. Let’s break the cycle with our children.