God’s Story... For My Life
Incomplete Obedience
Read 1 Samuel 15:10-23
Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.
Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”
When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!”
“Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.
“It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.”
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!” “What did he tell you?” Saul asked.
(1 Samuel 15:10-16)
Reflect
When God said he was grieved that he had made Saul king, was he saying he had made a mistake? God’s comment was an expression of sorrow, not an admission of error (Genesis 6:5-7). An omniscient God cannot make a mistake; therefore, God did not change his mind. He did, however, change his attitude toward Saul when Saul changed. Saul’s heart no longer belonged to God, but to his own interests.
Saul thought he had won a great victory over the Amalekites, but God saw it as a great failure because Saul had disobeyed him and then lied to Samuel about the results of the battle. Saul may have thought his lie wouldn’t be detected, or that what he did was not wrong. Saul was deceiving himself.
Dishonest people soon begin to believe the lies they construct around themselves. Then they lose the ability to tell the difference between truth and lies.
Respond
God wants us to honestly evaluate our motives. In the case of “blind spots”—those areas in our lives where we can’t see the truth—we can prayerfully ask others for godly feedback. In the long run, honesty wins out.