The Erosion of Our Life

“Thereafter Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah.” 1 Samuel 10:17

“Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, ‘Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.’ Then the dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man. He numbered them in Bezek; and the sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. They said to the messengers who had come, ‘Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, “Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have deliverance.”’ So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. Then the men of Jabesh said, ‘Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.’ The next morning Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.”
1 Samuel 11:6-11

There is a tendency to think of King Saul’s life as being sinister and foreboding. But Saul didn’t begin his reign as a baneful terrorist. The Bible says: “...he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. Samuel said..., ‘Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.’ So all the people shouted and said, ‘Long live the king!’”
1 Samuel 10:23-24

Saul bore God’s anointing along with the love and respect of the people. The first obvious sign of erosion came in 1 Samuel 15 when Saul willfully disobeyed God and offered a sacrifice only Samuel was commanded to make. Pride and jealousy, combined with insecurity, led to even deeper erosion of his spiritual values. In the end, Saul’s life was void of all that was godly.

Most of us think there’s no way we would yield to such spiritual decline. Before you adopt this view, recall the life of Saul. He was a humble man when he first became king. But by the end of his life, disobedience and pride were his captors. Ask God to surface an area of erosion in your life. Then pray He would give you wisdom and the ability to make the necessary course corrections.

All sin begins with a spirit of pride.