The story of King Saul is an interesting but very sad one. God anointed Saul king over Israel, gave him authority and influence over the children of Israel, and gave him specific instructions with regards to the enemy of the Israelites, the Amalekites. The instructions were as follows:
"Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' " (I Samuel 15:3).
Simple, unambiguous, and straightforward but Saul would not obey. He had to have his way. He faced the same problem man has today, the propensity to disobey God and the inclination to gratify self. Even though the Amalekites were closely related to the tribe of Ephraim, they were relentless enemies of Israel, a thorn in their flesh. When the children of Israel left Egypt on their way to the promised land, Amalek ambushed them. It was now time for God to punish them and He gave Saul that responsibility. What an honour it should have been for King Saul to have simply obeyed God! What a privilege he had to show God that he loved Him! You see, all that Saul cared about was his self-image - what people would think of him, what he wanted them to think of him. For Saul, the opinion of the people carried more weight than the commands of God. Incidentally when God punished Saul, the people could not save him. God is sovereign, loving, caring, patient but a consuming fire and we should not mess about with Him.
Interestingly, Saul felt that he had obeyed God. He thought that partial obedience is acceptable before God. He was wrong. Blatant disobedience, partial obedience and delayed obedience all belong to the same category - DISOBEDIENCE. In the 21st century, many Christians think they can get away with partial obedience. That is not possible. We should take heed to obey God fully and without hesitation.
Disobedience has always been man's problem. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and plunged man into sin and darkness. Cain disobeyed God and killed his brother Abel. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their sin. With regards to them, God said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-21)
This was after the flood, which God sent to destroy the whole of mankind except Noah and his family. Hear what the Bible says about the people who lived in Noah's time, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart." (Genesis 6:5-6)
Then we have the case of the children of Israel believing an evil report and disregarding the promises of God. 'But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature." (Numbers 13:31-32). The children of Israel cried all night and sought to go back to Egypt. They rebelled against God in disobedience despite the pleas of Joshua and Caleb who reminded them of God's promise to give them the land of Canaan. Disobedience caused the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Are you living in obedience or disobedience?
Disobedience to God's Word is sin. In Christendom today, many are living in disobedience - partial obedience and delayed obedience and they justify their behaviour by stating that we are under grace not under law. In addressing this misconception, Apostle Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). The abundance of God's grace does not justify disobedience, neither does it not condone or excuse or tolerate sin. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) fell down dead in one day because of partial obedience. They sold their property and presented part of the proceeds, pretending it was the whole amount. Yes, they donated some money but it was not enough to save them. They were guilty of deceit and disobedience. There was nothing wrong in keeping the money for themselves but they wanted to give a false impression while basking in it. That was twisted thinking that had partial obedience as its foundation.
Moses did not enter the promised land because, in his anger, he disobeyed God (Numbers 20:8-11). God told him to speak to the rock before the eyes of the children of Israel. Before he hit the rock, "...Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him." (Numbers 20:9). Moses obeyed God up to a point, but that did not prevent him from being punished by God for refusing to obey Him fully.
Are you toying with the idea of partial obedience? Partial obedience gives the impression that there is commitment even though the obedience is incomplete. The flesh revels in the prospect of picking and choosing parts of God’s Word and His commandments and leaving other parts that are 'too demanding or challenging'. For the carnal man, it’s always about convenience; for the spiritual man, it is always about sacrifice. The aim of partial obedience is to ride the fence with the erroneous mindset that both opposing views/lifestyles (the flesh and the Spirit) can be pacified. It has been said, 'You can't eat your cake and have it'. Surely, when we try to offer less than 100% commitment to God or try to offer excuses for not doing things God's uncompromising way, we portray signs of partial obedience and/or delayed obedience. God's commands are not up for debate or a procrastinated response. Now is the time to respond wholeheartedly, humbly and radically unto God and in total obedience to His Word. And, by the way, straddling the fence leaves one in a state of precarious balance!
Let me end by saying that the fact that some people seem to be getting away with disobedience does not, in anyway, diminish the consequences they will experience in due course and in God's timing if they do not change. Samson never thought that a day of reckoning would come and when it did, it was like an avalanche. It left him helpless, disgraced, ridiculed and a pathetic shadow of his former self. He lost his eyes but in his final moments the lack of physical sight gave way to deep spiritual reflection. May we lose all that stands in the way of serving God unconditionally. May we say like Esther, 'If I perish, I perish' (Esther 4:16). Esther embraced the possibility of death because she knew that anyone who approached the king without being summoned would face death. That was the law of the land. However God gave her favour because she was willing to let go (lose her life) and let God. You see, when you focus intensely on God, the glamour of this world loses its appeal to you. May we respond to God's bidding selflessly, courageously caring less for our welfare but more for the glory of God in Jesus' Name. Obedience to God must be total and unrelenting. Have a blessed day.
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