God commanded Saul to completely wipe out the Amalekites, no "ifs, ands or buts" about it. Saul did go and engage in war with the Amalekites, he did defeat the Amalekites and he did do most of what God told him to do; but he did not completely finish the job. Saul not only chose to keep King Agag alive, but he and his men also took for themselves all that was "good" in the Amalekite camp. In Saul's eyes, to get rid of all the good and economically beneficial things that were available once the Amalekites were defeated, would have not been smart. What he didn't realize was that his actions were speaking volumes to how he viewed God in relation to himself. He was basically telling God, "God, I will obey you as long as it is convenient for me." Saul simply loved himself more than God, and in turn he placed himself before God. The real issue was and is still "Love."
Note: Jesus told (and tells) us in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
My suspicion is this:
The sad reality of our culture and some of our personal lives today is that many of our actions say the same thing to God, that Saul's actions did. We are willing to obey God, as long as it is convenient. Christianity was never meant to be convenient. Think about it: We are called to put others before ourselves, live and love sacrificially, "wait" when the culture says "go", etc.
My challenge is this:
Read John 14:15-31
Reflect on your life and evaluate your "Love" for God. Pray that God would give you a heart for Him and His word. Obey God's word, completely.
Be blessed
What is really interesting to me about Saul's actions is that they really were not "selfish" in nature. Rather, Saul was keeping the animals in order to sacrifice them to the LORD.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think...do we sometimes disobey God even when we mean to worship God? Are there are times when we disobey even with great motive or intentions?
We like to think that every manner or worship is proper and good. Maybe not.
Saul's actions were selfish because God specifically told him what to do. God gives instructions specifically for a reason. If you read on with the stroy of Saul you will find out that his failurew to kill Agag ultimaltey leads to his own suicide. Obedience is never convient, animals obey God to his very word. If you look at the story of Jesus when he told the disciples to cast out there nets and they hesistated in unbelief LUKE 5:1-6 or the prohphet was told to go straight to a city and straight back and didnt and the Lord had lion kill but not eat him. 1 kings 13: 23-28
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