Daily Devotional for Monday 30th October
Excuses are not good enough
Saul’s promise to be a great king, the first one appointed to rule the people of Israel, was sadly unfulfilled. Saul’s life developed a pattern of partial obedience, acting in his own strength and will rather than following God to the letter, and then trying to talk or beg his way out of the consequences. He thought he knew better how to get what he wanted.
When we disobey God, it’s because we think what we want to do is more important than obeying God.
In this passage today, Saul is again saying sorry to Samuel for sinning by not obeying God fully, and then making excuses again – blaming the people. It’s an easy trap to fall into – blaming other people when things don’t go well in our life because of decisions and actions we decide to make. It can be very hard to see that it is our own fault.
Saul says to Samuel, “Please pardon my sin, and return with me to worship the Lord.” Saul is saying sorry, can we get back to normal now? Unfortunately for Saul, this was one rebellious decision too far. Samuel says to him, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord (by not obeying God fully), and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel”.
When we sin, there are consequences. We can say sorry, and repent of our actions, but a lot of the time we still have to face the consequences – broken relationships, trust destroyed, the fullness of God’s blessing missed at that moment. Here, Samuel tells Saul, God has rejected you as king.
As Samuel turns to leave, Saul grabs his cloak so forcefully that some of it tears off. Samuel tells Saul, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbour who is better than you.” The torn piece of robe a physical symbol of that.
He then goes on to say to Saul a truth that is for eternity. In verse 29, Samuel says, “And also the Glory of Israel (God Himself) will not lie (like Saul has or we do) or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” Sadly, Saul has missed knowing God in a way that would affect his heart and actions, and so he will miss out on knowing God’s blessing over his life.
Even more sadly, Saul’s next request is not a plea to be reinstated in God’s favour and relationship. He didn’t cry out how can I change that? He didn’t say take everything away from me, but let me still be God’s. No, he was more concerned with appearances. He wanted the people to see him as King still, and he asks Samuel to “honour me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me that I may worship the Lord your God.”
When we care more about how people perceive us, when we care more about titles, status, qualifications, rather than how God perceives us, we too have missed out on the blessing of knowing God intimately and knowing His great love for us.
Time to reflect…
· Spend a moment with God right now, pledging your heart to Him, to love Him, follow Him, obey Him and trust Him with everything and everyone in your life.
· Think about how this will play out in our daily decisions. Ask God the Holy Spirit to lead us in those.
Pause to pray…
Dear Father God, please forgive me when I think I know better than You. Please forgive me when I care more about how people see me rather than obeying you in all things. And please, Abba, may Your love for me and hand over my life be stronger than any other influence in my life. Thank You that You have made me Yours, through Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
