Devotional:Do It God’s Way1 Samuel 15:1-23

“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king (1 Sam. 15:23, NASB).

One of the greatest mistakes that a Christian can make is doing a good thing but doing it in a way that displeases God. We cannot please God if we follow our own evaluation of the situation and make our own decisions as to how we will deal with the situation. It matters not how noble the mission or task, God does not permit us to decide how we will accomplish the mission.

Our scripture passage tells the story of Saul overlooking the Lord’s commands resulting in his demotion as king in Israel. Samuel, the prophet in Israel gives Saul commands saying, “Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (v. 3). Saul goes to war with the Amalekites. He allows some of the people to escape. Saul takes some of the best sheep and offer sacrifices to the Lord, something that he is not authorized to do. God tells Samuel that He is displeased with Saul because he disobeyed the Lord’s commands. Samuel challenges Saul for his disobedience, but Saul defends his actions by sacrificing sheep and oxygen. Saul decides that sacrificing is what he ought to do. Saul decides that he is at liberty to disobey God’s order as long as he does a good thing. Saul decides to do things his own way.

People of God, you and I never have the liberty to make our own decisions. We cannot disobey God because we think that we are doing a good thing. We may be doing a good thing, but if in doing a good thing we disobey God we are guilty of sin. We put ourselves in God’s place. I will not make my own decisions. I will do it God’s way.

Prayer: Lord God may we determine to do Your will in Your way. Amen.