March 19
Selective Obedience
He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Hebrews 11:26
Renowned pastor and author Stuart Briscoe said, “When God’s commands seem onerous, men often cast them aside and experience a sense of freedom as they do what they want rather than what God wills. But such joy is short-lived as the negative consequences to health and well-being become apparent.”
Every honest man knows the struggle and pain of selective obedience. On more than one occasion King Saul could not resist his impulses to mess with God’s clear instruction. He is a timeless poster child for every man arrogant enough to turn his back on God’s revealed will. This is how it played out in Scripture, condensed into a nut shell. …
God told Saul in no uncertain terms to kill all the Amalekites and totally destroy everything— men, women, children, and animals—for what they did to Israel when they came out of Egypt. When Samuel approached Saul, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” But Samuel said to Saul, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?…You have rejected the word of the Lord.” (See 1 Samuel 15.)
Saul deceived himself into believing he was okay when the stark reality was that he had a king and Old McDonald’s farm in his possession! God’s command was clear but Saul obeyed selectively, and his arrogance cost him. Again, the ugly mole poked his head up and deceived Saul—and Saul took the bait hook, line, and sinker.
We’ve all been there. God asks us to tithe—but we give less than the amount He tells us. We are convicted about watching a certain show, but convince ourselves it’s fine because most of our friends watch it. We harbor bitterness toward a relative, even though the Holy Spirit’s been nudging us to mend fences. There’s a little bit of Saul in all of us, for sure.
It’s time for us to consider what bait will we succumb to. What is God’s revealed will in our lives? Saul certainly was living with some short-term joy. Chase after the long-term joy found in obedience to His revealed will for you.
Father, You have nothing but my best in mind. Help me consider the consequences of short-term joy.
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https://www.lightsource.com/devotionals/one-year-devotions-for-men/trust-and-obey-one-year-devotions-for-men-11723798.html
This hits so close to home. My wife and I have been watching Amazon’s show House of David – a loose interpretation of the life of King David as a young man to his ascension to the throne. What’s particularly striking is “watching” King Saul’s selective obedience to God’s instruction for the Amalekites. It puts into perspective the outside influences (mole) that “interrupted” King Saul’s obedience and the justification King Saul gave Samuel.
I find my “goto reaction” more attuned to my direction than the Holy Spirit’s. I earnestly pray for guidance but often wonder if I “missed” the guidance.
Is anyone else struggling with the “missing’ piece?
The greatest concern I have for men and something I had not done for over 57 years was obey the whole word of God. Virtually the entire church system picks and chooses which Commandments they believe should be followed when every single one of them should be followed except the sacrificial system for which Jesus replaced and is now high priest we can go to intercede for us. Otherwise we should be reading and following every commandment possible including his Feasts including the Sabbath. The Catholic Church of which I was a part of for over 45 years clearly admits they changed the Sabbath day and said they have the authority to do so and also admitted that there is nothing in Scripture the changed the Sabbath day and the physical day of rest that God commanded us to take and has nothing to do with Jesus being our Sabbath which is spiritual. The physical rest commandment did not change it was not a foreshadow of something that would go away as scripture clearly says it will be with us in the millennial kingdom. So if you want to talk about truly following God’s commands we should be reading the first five books and applying as many as we possibly can knowing we are not in Israel under that governmental system but in fact we are grafted into Israel and part of God’s Kingdom. We might want to practice and get ready for when the kingdom comes