Your Daily Devotional for March 5, 2006

March 5, 2006

 

The Self-Willed Man

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

1 Samuel 15:23

 

When we hear the name “Saul,” what comes into our minds?  In 1 Samuel 15, we read the story of Saul’s willful disregard of God’s command to utterly destroy the Amalekites.  By sparing the best of the sheep and all that was good, he deliberately disobeyed God’s specific instructions.  As a result, Saul has become a picture or a type of the flesh or the carnal man.

 

God’s desire has always been that His children follow Him.  Ephesians 5:1 states, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.”  It doesn’t matter whether we’re 30 or 40 or 50 years old; God is looking for people who will obey Him, people whose hearts are tender toward Him. 

 

The Bible tells us in verse 11a, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.”  This does not mean that God had made a mistake in establishing Saul as king; rather, it means that Saul, by the exercise of his own stubborn will, had lost the privilege to serve.  God gave Saul a specific job description, but Saul chose to rewrite it in his own terms.  The call of God is always related to His purpose and never separated from our responsibility of obedience.  It’s a tragedy that God changed His mind about Saul.  Saul’s wanting to do things his way paved the road to his own destruction.

 

I find out time and time again that God brings trials and difficulties in my life to bring me to my knees.  He oftentimes reminds me of who He is and who I am.  There may be specific ways that God would want to use us, but if we’re unwilling to walk in His ways and carry out His plan for our lives, He may repent of having chosen us.  If we begin to vaunt ourselves instead of Christ and are no longer consumed by inspiring people to have a heart for God, then God in a split second can withdraw His blessings from us.  Now that’s a sobering thought!

 

Samuel, on the other hand, grieved over Saul’s disobedience.  He knew that this was the beginning of the end for the king of Israel.  Saul was not only disobedient; he was also full of pride and built a monument to himself, according to verse twelve.  Saul used religious terminology with Samuel to cloak or mask his sin – “Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:13).  That was an outright lie.

 

To me, one of the saddest verses in the Bible is found in verse thirty-five: “Samuel came no more to see Saul.”  This could be said about many relationships when rebellion or stubbornness sets in.  Christian, what will it be for us today, rebellion or surrender?  Let’s choose wisely and surrender our will to the Lord today.

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