1Samuel 15 is a very sobering story. I wanted to cry with Samuel when God rejected Saul as king over Israel. Verse 22 says to obey is better than sacrifice. And 23 says that rebellion is the same as witchcraft. OUCH! I think He’s pretty serious about wanting His children to obey Him! Saul sinned when God told him to go destroy the Amalekites because he spared the king and kept the best of everything. Saul feared the people who wanted those things more than He feared God… OUCH! And saying “sorry” didn’t get him off the hook. I love how Samuel stood up for God and had Saul bring him the King of the Amallekites. And Samuel literally hacked the king of The Amalekites in pieces!! Yuck! But he did it because God had said to utterly destroy those people and all they had. Just in case you think that God was mean– no the Amalekites had waited to ambush Israel earlier. So Samuel finished what Saul didn’t do. Samuel never went to see Saul again until he (Samuel) died but he grieved over Saul the rest of his days. So Saul’s disobedience resulted in him and his line losing the kingdom of Israel forever, the loss of God’s favor on his life, and the loss of his friend Samuel.
So what is the message to us here today? It’s simple. OBEY God at all costs .Disobedience will cost far more!
Living Life 