Long ago, after the Jews had gotten out of Egypt, there was a woman named Hannah who begged God for a son. God blessed her, and she did have a son, and this was Samuel. Hannah promised God that she would dedicate Samuel to Him. After he was weaned, she took him to the temple and left him with Eli, who was a judge over Israel for 40 years. Samuel helped Eli with his work, and was very close to God.
But the people saw that all the surrounding nations had kings, and they decided they wanted a king, too. So God showed Eli the man He should appoint as king, and that was Saul, the first king of Israel.
Now, when the people were traveling from Egypt, one of the countries they passed, Amalek, treated them poorly, and God told Saul to take his army and destroy every Amalekite and everything in their country. After this war, Samuel went out to meet Saul as they returned from battle. But Saul had gone to the town of Carmel to build a monument to himself! And God spoke to Samuel and told him that He was sorry He had ever made Saul king, because Saul had not been loyal to Him and refused to obey God’s command! Samuel was very upset and the next morning went to meet Saul. Saul was very proud of himself, and bragged about how he had obeyed the Lord’s command! But Samuel demanded,
“Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?!
And Saul answered, “It’s true the army spared the best of the livestock, but they are going to sacrifice them to your God! We destroyed everything else! And I brought back King Agag!”
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
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.”
Well…how does this apply to me? I’m not a king. I don’t have a Samuel to tell me what God wants me to do.
No, but I have far more than Samuel ever had. I have Jesus Christ, who sent me the Holy Spirit! And I have my blessed Bible, which provides me with all the instruction I will ever need! MY problem is this: when I KNOW what God wants me to do, will I find a reason to do it a little differently? Or a little later? Or with the wrong attitude? Or with any one of a number of changes that are more appealing to ME?
Obedience, I sometimes find, is as hard for me as it is for my precious little great-grandsons.
—Norma Stockton
*Please be advised that this blog represents the views, opinions and beliefs of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of our church leadership or denominational affiliation.