Incomplete Obedience

“Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ‘I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands’ And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.” 1 Samuel 15:10-11

“Samuel said, ‘Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, “Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.” Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?’ Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.’

Samuel said,
‘Has the Lord as much 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 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 Samuel 15:17-23

Do you have a “rating system” by which you categorize sin? Is murder a definite “10” while telling a lie may in at a “3”? With God, there is no such scale. Scripture is very clear: Sin is sin. It separates man from God; it hinders the relationship between God and His children.

We also commit sin by our blatant disobedience to the known will of God. King Saul tragically learned that partial obedience is not the same as complete obedience. There is a great gulf between the two. The basis is the choice of the heart: to surrender to His will.

Obedience consists of doing the will of the Father:
- When He says.
In the Christian, timing is an important element. We learn from Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. If we miss God’s timing of an act of obedience, we may be too late - we may be too early. Either one is incomplete - sin.

- How He says.
The ways of God are known only by God. But as a child of God, you have His very Spirit within, offering divine guidance and direction. Proverbs 3:5-6 - Don’t revert to your own understanding.

Are you really obeying God?

Thought for the Day:
“The climax of sin is that it crucified Jesus Christ.” - Oswald Chambers