May the mumbling commence!
False humility melts away to reveal the pride
beneath. Saul teaches us this
lesson. Let’s learn from his mistakes
and not duplicate them. Read from First
Samuel chapter thirteen:
Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were
trembling with fear. Saul waited
there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn't come.
Saul realized
that his troops were rapidly slipping
away. So he demanded, "Bring me
the burnt offering and the peace offerings!" And Saul sacrificed
the burnt offering himself.
Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering,
Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, but Samuel said, "What is this you have done?"
Saul replied, "I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn't
arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for
battle. So I said, 'The Philistines are
ready to march against us, and I haven't even asked for the Lord's help!' So I felt obliged to offer the burnt
offering myself before you came."
"How foolish!" Samuel exclaimed. "You have disobeyed the command of the Lord your God. Had you obeyed, the Lord would have established your kingdom
over Israel forever. But now your dynasty must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own
heart. The Lord has already chosen
him to be king over his people, for you have not obeyed the Lord's command."
(Verses 7b-14)
We need to understand our role… what we are called to do
and what we are not called to do. If we
confuse the two, we will get into big trouble.
It will affect not only us but also our families. True humility is the way to be. It helps us see our own faults as readily as
we see the faults of other people. Read
from First Samuel chapter fourteen:
But hungry as
they were, they chased and killed the Philistines all day from Micmash to
Aijalon, growing more and more faint. That
evening they flew upon the battle plunder and butchered the sheep, cattle, and
calves, but they ate them without draining the blood. Someone reported to Saul, "Look, the men
are sinning against the Lord by
eating meat that still has blood in it."
“That is very wrong," Saul said. (Verses 31-33a)
Yes, Israel’s soldiers did wrong by eating food with the
blood still in it. However, Saul conveniently
forgot that his command to keep the soldiers from eating is what drove them to
such ravenous and outrageous acts as eating meat with the blood still in
it. Saul was as much at fault as the
soldiers.
And that myopic vision caused problems when Saul felt
the opposite pulls of following God and pleasing his soldiers. Read from First Samuel chapter fifteen:
And Samuel told him, "Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of
Israel? The Lord has
anointed you king of Israel. And the Lord
sent you on a mission and told you, 'Go and completely destroy the sinners, the
Amalekites, until they are all dead.' Why
haven't you obeyed the Lord? Why
did you rush for the plunder and do exactly what the Lord said not to do?"
"But I did obey the Lord," Saul insisted. "I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought
back King Agag, but I destroyed
everyone else. Then my troops brought in
the best of the sheep and cattle and
plunder to sacrifice to the Lord
your God in Gilgal."
But Samuel replied, "What is more
pleasing to the Lord: your burnt
offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far
better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the
fat of rams. Rebellion is as bad as the
sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. So because you
have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you from being king." (Verses
17-23)
Obedience is better than sacrifice. True humility is better than pride. Let us give thanks for the example that Jesus
gave us of obedience and humility. May
we follow faithfully in the trail that Jesus blazed.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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