Consequence Of Disobedience

February 15, 2021

So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , He also has rejected you from being king.”

~I Samuel 15:22‭-‬23~

The annointing was upon Saul as king. Samuel was thrilled to be his messenger and guide to what God was calling Saul to do. Samuel's address at Saul's coronation bluntly tells the people to follow the Lord with all of their heart, to be obedient in all things; "Then Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord , but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing." (I Samuel 12:20‭-‬21)

This is a warning from God. God tells His people to obey Him with their whole heart. Of course Saul did not listen to Samuel's words from God and eventually he offered up an unlawful sacrifice. "So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash." (1 Samuel 13:9-11)

What did Saul do here that displeased the Lord? He acted off emotion and flesh, Saul said "he saw and felt was necessary to do," rather then waiting on God to move in His time. The problem when we act based off what we feel is personally best we are being disobedient to God; whether we believe we are or not. We are not following Him with our whole heart. The Father says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. There is no difference to God between a person openly performing sorcery verse a person who makes their own decisions rather then waiting on the Lord. We cannot afford to be stubborn when following the Lord. Sin is sin regardless of the label, it is all the same to God. God sent Saul out to destroy the Amalekites and spare no one, not even the animals. Saul took it upon himself to spare king Agag and the best of his sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs and the bible states "all that was good." Saul did not obey Gods instruction. Saul thought he had a better idea and in turn he thought one little change would be harmless. His stubborness was the same as the sin of idolatry, for he basically idolized himself by not listening to exactly what he was to do and not do. Little did he know, this would anger God and he would now be rejected as king. We must understand the seriousness of rejecting God's instruction. Even with small things. He knows best and when we vow to follow Him and make Him our King, we are to listen, wait and do things on His time. Many times people feel the need to over step their boundries with the same thoughts Saul must of thought, "God will forgive me and understand." Who are we to say what God will do or say about a circumstance we have caused? Are we God? We must take a step back and slow down and the way we do things. Do we want to be considered unrighteous? In disobeying God's commandments and orders in our own lives that is exactly what we are doing; as He states very clearly sin is sin regardless of what kind it is. It is all the same to God and displeases Him. Sin has consequence. This is why Christ died on the cross; for ALL sin, as there was no difference to Him. He dies for everyone. However, if we are claiming His Name as Saul did, we must put ourselves last and Him first. He is in charge, we are not. "You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently."

(Psalms 119:4)

Obedience is not something we receive as a gift, it is something we choose to follow in our own free will. Just as we are not told to receive humility, rather to "humble ourselves." It is our decision. Saul made his decision and it cost him his annointing. God is the same God as He was in Saul's time frame, meaning when we choose we may just end up with consequences according to our choices. We have the ability to follow Jesus and listen to what He is saying rather then focusing on what our flesh wants to do.

"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

(Galatians 6:8)

I believe the biggest issue in the Body of Christ is the true fear of Him, the understanding of His holiness and the separation between different sin. If we think that our "small act of sin" is ok compared to others "large act of sin;" we are officially deceived. For the bible clearly states all sin is the same. We must constantly search ourselves, ask God to help us understand, repent for unknown sin in our hearts and ask for forgiveness. The beauty of it is that now we have our sacrifice already on the altar, the Blood of Jesus Christ. We no longer have to offer a sacrifice, all that is left to do is obey Him. We cannot pick and choose, we cannot decide for ourselves. We must rely on Jesus, His timing and His commandments. It could seem so harmless to us but to a Holy, Sovereign and Pure God we may be offending Him much more then we could even imagine.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13‭-‬14)

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Son's sweet sacrifice to make atonement for all of my sins. I know this does not give me free reign to sin, rather to expose sin and live according to Your instruction. I am Yours and You are mine and I pray to always obey Your instruction, to never add or take away from it. Please help me to take my blinders off so I can see clearly how I may be offending You. Help me to grow stronger in obedience as Samuel did. To listen to all that You say and not just certain parts. I am sorry for any area in which I have unknowingly sinned against You and I ask for You to teach me further in Your word so that I may live according to all that it insists of me as Your child. I praise You in all Your patience with me, in Your holiness that You allow me to understand and in Your gift to forgive when I repent each time. Lord may all glory be to You as I follow Your voice which leads me to move, wait or speak in Your perfect timing. It is You alone who knows best, not me. In Your precious Name I pray and give thanks, Jesus Christ. Amen.