The Lord sees through our religious talk and manipulations. The Lord sees through our ulterior motives and religious excuses. The Lord sees through the actions that are really self-service cloaked in excuses that sound like commitment. The Lord does not want our sacrifices. He wants you! He wants your trust. He wants your obedience. 1 Samuel 15:10-24 [10] Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: [11] I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions. Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. [12] Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal. [13] When Samuel reached him, Saul said, The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lords instructions. [14] But Samuel said, What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear? [15] Saul answered, The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest. [16] Stop! Samuel said to Saul. Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night. Tell me, Saul replied. [17] Samuel said, Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. [18] And he sent you on a mission, saying, Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out. [19] Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord? [20] But I did obey the Lord, Saul said. I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. [21] The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal. [22] But Samuel replied: Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. [23] For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. Saul was oblivious to the fact of what was about to happen. He had won the battle against the Amalekites, but he lost the battle for his own character before God. And he had also lost his place as king. Saul had completely misunderstood the purpose of the battle the Lord had commanded. The Lord’s intention was never for Saul or his soldiers to enrich themselves as the result of war. This was a divine judgment against the Amalekites. But the soldiers had pounced on the plunder as if they had no God to trust in for the needs of their lives. And then Saul headed off to Carmel to build a monument to himself! So the Lord pronounced the verdict concerning Saul— I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions. This was not about mistakes or missteps. This was not even about misunderstanding. This was about rebellion against the Lord God. The Lord knew the heart of Saul and that this rebellion was deliberate. When confronted by Samuel, Saul acted religious. We often do that when we are caught and called on the carpet. Saul was no different. He greeted Samuel with a blessing— The Lord bless you! He then acted as though he had, in fact, carried out the work of the Lord. Saul was full of excuses for his actions. Saul greeted Samuel with religious smarm and then suggested that the soldiers were really just holding back some of the bounty as a religious offering to sacrifice before the Lord. In fact, they had pounced like hungry animals on the sheep and cattle eating them without even proper preparation. Even if this were true, it was not the directive of the Lord! Samuel had to pronounce the truth— “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. What the Lord wanted more than anything from Saul was not sacrifices or burnt offerings but a relationship of trust that was willing to obey. If there was to be a king, the Lord wanted a king who would trust and obey. Rebellion, even within a religious frame work, is as abhorrent to the Lord as idolatry or divination. This is a powerful truth. The Lord wants so much more with us than just the appearance of piety. The Lord sees through our religious talk and manipulations. The Lord sees through our ulterior motives and religious excuses. The Lord sees through the actions that are really self-service cloaked in excuses that sound like commitment. The Lord does not want our sacrifices. He wants you! He wants your trust. He wants your obedience. Lord, I confess the ways that I have failed to obey. No excuses. No religious stories. I have failed to obey. I want to change that. Show me the places in my life where obedience is better that sacrifices. In Jesus’ Name. < < < < < < < < < < < < © Jeffrey D. Hoy 2013 Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA) 2820 Business Center Blvd. Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200 Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an E-mail message addressed to [email protected].
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 11:12:05 +0000
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