Daily Reading
1 Samuel 15-16
1 Chronicles 5
Matthew 1
Scripture
17 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. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ 19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”
20 “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. 21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”24 Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded.
Observation
Saul was a very insecure person. Samuel said to him, “Although you may think little of yourself. . .” At one point, he was hiding amongst the grain when people were trying to find him. But God chose him as king. That means God thought he was great. God thought he was able to be king, with His help, of course. What did Saul do with his insecurities? He was a people pleaser. He did what other people wanted him to do. He disobayed God because he was afraid of the people and what they thought. He even started calling God, “your God” to Samuel, instead of our God. He did not take personal ownership of any of his decisions. He had an excuse for everything. It eventually led him to have a miserable and depressed and anxious life.
Application
Saul’s life could have turned out very differently if he would have given his insecurities to God and trusted that God knew what was best. He wanted so bad to be accepted and he had a tough job. At the beginning, he displayed some very astute decisions. But he went with popular opinion instead of God’s opinion. I am very much like Saul in a lot of ways. I don’t feel I have the ability to do what He’s called me to do, and I’m right. When I forget that He is in control, I tend to go with popular opinion and make choices based on what other people would want me to do. I don’t stop and ask God what His plan is. Luckily, Jesus has given us the gift of Grace and we will not be shunned from God because of our poor decisions, but there are still consequences of making decisions outside of His will.
Prayer
Lord, help me to always remember that I am called by You and therefore I can do ANYTHING if You have asked me to do it. Help me not to go with popular opinion just because I feel inadequate. Thank-you for Your Grace and Mercy that covers me when I sin.
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