For the past few weeks I have been struggling with obedience. More specifically, my obedience to God. Truthfully, I don’t obey Him completely; only when it works for me. In July, my wife and I got a dog from a friend of a friend who wanted to give him a better home since they felt they could not adequately give him the fullest care that he deserved. Any pet owner can tell you what fun it is to own an animal, and in my completely biased opinion, dogs are the best. They’re very eager animals, eager to go outside and chase squirrels, eager to see you when you get home after being at work all day.
However, you have to teach them what you want them to listen to from the very beginning, otherwise they will run roughshod all over you and your household. At the minimum, they’ll chew on things you don’t want it to. At the worst, they will run out and get themselves hurt. For their own good, you expect nothing but complete obedience from them.
I couldn’t help but think about this as I read the story in 1 Samuel 15. The HTML link is provided as this is a long chapter, too long to quote in here. There is so much material in that chapter that it would be impossible to cover in one small column. We could easily spend days talking about the themes, the moral issues and the theological concepts that run throughout in this chapter, but the main thing is that King Saul paid a huge price by not obeying God to the fullest. God’s intentions in having the Amakelites completely eliminated was for Israel’s own good in order to prevent the nation from being corrupted by the pagan practices of its neighbors. However, not by obeying God’s command to the fullest, not only did Saul lose his crown (as we see in later chapters), he lost God’s favor AND allowed Israel to be open to corruption (as seen in later books such as 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Kings).
Just like I expect my dog to obey me for his own good even though he might not understand why I say no, such is the same with God. God truly does want the best for us, which is why He might say no to what we ask for or ask us to do things that we don’t fully understand. Why is it that we understand God’s position at the basic level when we interact with children and animals, but for some reason when it comes to us and our choices, the rules don’t apply?
Simple. Just like King Saul, we are filled with pride. Proverbs 16:18 says it so well: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” And how Saul did fall. May we crucify our pride and defeat our hubris and remember Samuel’s powerful, eye-opening words: “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” More than anything we do, give or talk, God wants us to obey Him! That pleases Him more than anything we do.
– Matt
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Complete Obedience Required
October 28, 2010
Calvary
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Matt
For the past few weeks I have been struggling with obedience. More specifically, my obedience to God. Truthfully, I don’t obey Him completely; only when it works for me. In July, my wife and I got a dog from a friend of a friend who wanted to give him a better home since they felt they could not adequately give him the fullest care that he deserved. Any pet owner can tell you what fun it is to own an animal, and in my completely biased opinion, dogs are the best. They’re very eager animals, eager to go outside and chase squirrels, eager to see you when you get home after being at work all day.
However, you have to teach them what you want them to listen to from the very beginning, otherwise they will run roughshod all over you and your household. At the minimum, they’ll chew on things you don’t want it to. At the worst, they will run out and get themselves hurt. For their own good, you expect nothing but complete obedience from them.
I couldn’t help but think about this as I read the story in 1 Samuel 15. The HTML link is provided as this is a long chapter, too long to quote in here. There is so much material in that chapter that it would be impossible to cover in one small column. We could easily spend days talking about the themes, the moral issues and the theological concepts that run throughout in this chapter, but the main thing is that King Saul paid a huge price by not obeying God to the fullest. God’s intentions in having the Amakelites completely eliminated was for Israel’s own good in order to prevent the nation from being corrupted by the pagan practices of its neighbors. However, not by obeying God’s command to the fullest, not only did Saul lose his crown (as we see in later chapters), he lost God’s favor AND allowed Israel to be open to corruption (as seen in later books such as 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Kings).
Just like I expect my dog to obey me for his own good even though he might not understand why I say no, such is the same with God. God truly does want the best for us, which is why He might say no to what we ask for or ask us to do things that we don’t fully understand. Why is it that we understand God’s position at the basic level when we interact with children and animals, but for some reason when it comes to us and our choices, the rules don’t apply?
Simple. Just like King Saul, we are filled with pride. Proverbs 16:18 says it so well: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” And how Saul did fall. May we crucify our pride and defeat our hubris and remember Samuel’s powerful, eye-opening words: “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” More than anything we do, give or talk, God wants us to obey Him! That pleases Him more than anything we do.
– Matt
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