Then Samuel said:
“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king. 1 Samuel 15:22-23 HCSB
If we were to back up and read 1 Samuel chapter 15 from the beginning, we would see that King Saul had been instructed by the Lord to go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. He instructed him to go and kill every person and animal. But Saul, only half-way obeyed the Lord’s command. He captured the king and brought him back alive. He also destroyed the animals that he considered worthless, but brought the best of the animals back with his troops. This was not what God had commanded him to do. He only got it half right. God handed the Amalekites over to Saul. God was upset with the Amalekites because they had oppressed the Israelites after they had fled Egypt. They had wronged God’s chosen people. Now Saul’s not destroying everyone and everything as he had been instructed to do will cause problems years later for other Israelites. All because Saul decided to pick and choose which parts of God’s instructions he would obey.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t judge old Saul too harshly because I have been there, done that and got the t-shirt. And just as Saul did, I tried to reason it away and hoped that God would understand. You see once Saul got caught, his excuse was, “I did as the Lord commanded, I just brought the king back alive and I brought the best of the livestock back so that I could sacrifice it to the Lord”. Now the problem here is that this is not what the Lord had commanded him to do. So God was disappointed in him and decided that when Saul died that the throne would be given over to David.
God is not going to tolerate semi-obedience. Imagine if Jesus had decided that he would agree to being arrested and going through their kangaroo court, but would call angels to swoop down and rescue him before the beatings started? He would just skip that whole entire humiliation and crucifixion thing. Then life for us would be hopeless.
Even though Saul was allowed to remain king until he died. His life was filled with misery. He had bouts of paranoia. He was jealous of David and spent many years pursuing him and trying to kill him. He was severely injured in battle and fell on his sword. He, his three sons and his armor -bearer all died on that same day. Saul’s disobedience didn’t only affect his life but it also meant that none of his sons would succeed him as king. His sons died along with him. None of us live in a vacuum. Often when we disobey God, it has a ripple effect on those around us. Those that we love suffer with us.
This is just one of the classic examples that the bible gives us to show us that the disobedient never fare well. Chapter 28 of the book of Deuteronomy gives blessings that the Lord will award to the Israelites that are obedient and then the curses that he will bestow upon them for being disobedient.
God gives us very clear commands in the bible. It’s not rocket science. He honors our obedience and when we are disobedient it doesn’t work so well for us. He gives us free will. So the choice to obey or disobey is all ours. The problem with disobedience is that there will come a point when God will have enough and he will turn us over to our own sinful desires (Romans 1:24) So choose today. I beg of you to choose wisely. Your life and the life of your family depend on it.
Have a great day!