20 May ESOCS Devotional
TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 13:1-12
MEMORY VERSE:
“… and just as he was finishing, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet him and welcome him.” 1 Samuel 13:10 GV
The first thing we should do as Christians in all life challenges is to ascertain carefully what exactly the word of God says about that situation. The second is to keep to it patiently, no matter the pressure we experience. This period of patience is powered by the understanding that God is faithfully in control and that nothing can happen against His divine will, as long as His servants are involved. In our text today, we read of a clear expression of lack of faith in God and disobedience to the Lord’s instruction on the part of King Saul, and his character of making excuses.
To surmount our present challenges, we must have recourse to experiences of dealings of God with earlier servants. Knowledge, they say, is power. The power to obey God is driven by the knowledge of God and His ways. In verses 1-7 of our text, we read of threat of war by the Philistines and the fear the threat gave to Israel and to Saul. But Saul failed to remember past history of how God came to the rescue of Israel from the heat of terribly threatening circumstances. Such situation abounded but Saul failed to realize that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that He is ever faithful.
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
What God requires from us is to believe that He can do the impossible. He hates doubts and excuses. Unfortunately, many Christians live in excuses – poverty, economic difficulty, etc. are the reasons young men and women prostitute, join cults, and robbery gangs. We find excuses to do things that do not please God. For Saul, it was simply because Samuel delayed to come for sacrifice (See verses 8-12). In verse 11, we read,“…. The people were deserting me, and you had not come when you said you would; besides that the Philistines are gathering at Michmash.”
We must carefully review our life style if indeed we desire to please God on earth. In the eyes of the Lord, there is no reason sufficient to justify us in rushing to get what we desire in life in an ungodly manner. God has His own plans for us, and knows the time to attend to us for our best interest. God’s time, they say, is the best. A time will certainly come when men will regret actions taken outside God’s plan and time. In verse 13, we read, “That was a foolish thing to do, Samuel said, you have not obeyed the command of the LORD your God gave you. If you had obeyed, he would have let you and your descendants rule over Israel forever.”
CHALLENGE: Is there any situation that God cannot handle?
PRAYER POINT: Lord, I subject my will to your will. Let me live by your will. In Jesus Name! Amen.
20 May ESOCS Devotional – FURTHER READING: 1 Samuel 13:13–23; Revelation 13:1-9; 13:10–18
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