Obey

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.”  I Sam 15:10-12

God had just chosen Saul as the King of Israel.  He gave him specific instructions.  Instructions that he did not follow.  Drunk on power, he made decisions based on what he thought, not what God had commanded.  God would strip the kingdom away from him.  Saul offers an excuse: he didn’t kill everything (as God had commanded) so that he could sacrifice some animals to God.

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.”   I Sam 15:22-23

God, may I never be drunk on power.  May I obey you fully in the things you ask me to do.  Should I rebel, please warn me quickly and firmly.  My greatest desire is to obey your voice, not my own.

[tags]obedience, journal, Bible, King, Saul[/tags]