Jump Start # 265

1 Samuel 15:9 “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fattlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.”

  We return to the same passage as last time. We’re not through with it yet. In our last Jump Start we explored the concept of God ordering the death of every man, woman and child of the Amalekites. God wanted that nation utterly destroyed. Utterly.

  Another lesson. Saul did not obey God. Not only did he not utterly destroy the Amalekites, but he kept or rather stole some of the animals and kept the king alive. Saul didn’t just keep some of the animals, but rather the “best” of the animals—as if they inspected and made choices. What follows is off the charts.

  God knows—He always knows. God is disappointed. He says, “I regret that I have made Saul king” (11). Samuel shows up. The first thing Saul says is, “I have carried out the command of the Lord” (13). Really? Is Saul so deceived that he thinks doing most of what the Lord says is good enough? Does close count? Samuel’s response is classic. He says, “What then is the bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Opps. Saul’s response? “THEY have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

  First, Saul blames the people. They did this. This is a sign of poor leadership. A lousy leader will take credit for the good and pass responsibility for the bad. God will not accept this reason.

  Second, the people did this so they could sacrifice them to God. Wrong. God did not ask for this. Bringing God into the discussion gives the impression that wrong can now be right. God didn’t accept this.

  Third, other than that, we obeyed. Saul says, “the rest we have utterly destroyed.” That’s not what God said to do. Utterly means utterly, not mostly.

  Obedience to God is difficult. The reason is not that the commands are hard, but we get in the way. We think what would be the best. We reason. We want. We feel. We like. Because of these things, we obey God some, but not “utterly.” We obey enough to convince ourselves that we are doing a good job.

  For example, we go to church services. Many don’t. Yet while we are at church services, we play around, don’t pay attention, text on our phones,  we kill time, we waste time. Now, we tell ourselves, “at least I went to church,” but we didn’t worship completely. No utterly here.

  It’s the “utterly” part that gets us. It’s one thing to sing, but with thankfulness in your heart as God wants—that’s the utterly part. It’s one thing to give, but cheerful is what God wants—that’s the utterly part.

  King Saul expected Samuel to praise him. He thought the old prophet will finally be happy with what I did. But he wasn’t because Saul didn’t obey God completely. There was no utterly on Saul’s part. It is sad for leaders, or anyone, to blame others for their lack of responsibility. That’s the theme of the month in our society today. Because of the way I was raised, I can’t help myself. Because I carry all this baggage, I am not responsible and can’t be expected to do what others do. PLEASE. Quit being King Saul. He’s the king. He’s leading the troops. As the men started gathering the animals, it was then, that Saul should have said, “utterly, boys!”  But he didn’t.

  Don’t let our times, be a reason for you to not be what God wants. Don’t blame others. Don’t settle for partial obedience. God expects “utterly.”

Roger