Journey Thru The Bible! (1 Samuel 13 - 15)

Click on the above Scripture to read today's text!

Here are a few lessons we can learn from today's text...

1) True worship comes from worshipping God in spirit and according to truth! Saul panicked when he saw his army dwindling down to a mere 600 soldiers. He was waiting for Samuel, the prophet, to come along and offer up a prayer and a sacrifice for God's favor concerning the outcome of the battle. Due to the fact that Samuel was somehow delayed in getting there on time, Saul thought, "Hey, I'm king! I can offer the sacrifice on the altar! Somebody's got to do it and since I'm the top dog in Israel I'll just go ahead and do it!" Unfortunately, this was a HUGE violation of the law of Moses. God strictly instructed Israel to only allow the priests to do this job. Saul's major problem was that he downplayed strict obedience to God's law to such a point that it caused him to sin against God and ended God's blessing on his kingship!

2) God blesses faith EVERYTIME! As Saul continues to fall into military and spiritual stupidity, his son Jonathan, on the other hand, exemplifies tremendous faith in God. He and his armor bearer decide to scale a wall and take on the entire army by themselves! Listen to the great faith that Jonathan exhibited in 14:6, "Let's go across t the outpost of those pagans, ... perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!"

Faith in God can conquer ANY and EVERY giant or formidable force that may come your way! What giants are you facing this week? Put your faith in the ONE who can knock them down!

3) Pride can cause you to make stupid decisions! Saul was hungry for a military victory over the Philistines! So much so, that he made a stupid decision - the forcing of every soldier to refrain from eating until the enemy is subdued. Even Jonathan, Saul's son, thought this was a stupid idea! Listen to what Jonathan says in 14:29, "My father has made trouble for us all! A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed i am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey. If the men had been allowed to eatfreely fro the food they found among our enemies, think how many more Philistines we could have killed."

Saul was even willing to kill his own son for disobeying his stupid command! Pride makes people foolish, and it turns them into fools! Rather than admit he'd made a mistake, he supports the oath he rashly made and is willing to sacrifice the head of his own son - the one who (through faith in God) saved Israel that day! Fortunately, Saul's valiant soldiers jump in and protect Jonathan from this stupid move on Saul's part. They see Saul's pride and rescue Jonathan from being killed!

I've met many men like Saul. They make stupid decisions and would rather go down in flames rather than admit they'd been wrong! They've become fools!

4) Just a little disobedience is as BIG as much disobedience! Chapter 15 tells the story of Saul's attempt to be obedient on 90% of His command. Rather than do EXACTLY as God says to do, Saul trys to offer God some better ideas!
- Rather than kill everyone, lets keep the best animals for sacrifice! WRONG!
- Rather than kill everyone, lets keep the king alive...he might be useful! WRONG!

Saul worshipped and serve God "IN HIS OWN WAY!" This is no different than a lot of people today! Many people say, "Well, I don't go to church because God and I have this thing going and it works for us!" Or, "I worship God in my own way!"

Hey, Jesus said in John 4:23, "But the time is coming...when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is a Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."

In other words, we must worship God from the depths of our hearts and according to truth - the way He wants it done!

Well, that's all I've got time for now! What have you learned...let me know? Have a wonderful day in the Lord!