Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn’t come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven’t entreated the favor of Yahweh.’ I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you; for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom on Israel forever. But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.””
(1 Samuel 13 :11-14)

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.”
(Titus 2:11-14)

Saul’s sin wasn’t so much the sacrificing in and of itself. It was his inability to obey God’s command. God commanded Saul to wait. Saul gave in to fear and did not wait. That was his sin. That was his blunder. He did not share God’s heart. God honours those who honour Him. Saul did not honour God. The history of Israel showed even at this early date that God did not need many people to bring about His purposes and victory (Judges 7:2). Saul should have trusted God and put Him first no matter WHAT. That Saul didn’t do that right from the beginning shows that he chose himself over God. The appearance of his position was of greater importance than God’s place. This ends up being a pattern with Saul and his biggest excuse – much like his ancestor (Genesis 3:12).

Living soberly doesn’t mean living like monks. Look at David. He did NOT live like monk and his basic character was living like he had God’s heart. Yes, he missed it in several places (all human beings do), but he was quick to repent and not repeat that sin or iniquity. He constantly changed his behaviour, his words, and his actions to conform to God’s moral character. God has revealed His glory to us so that we also can live after God’s own heart. To put away the things the world values and that the world says is right and good. Instead, we are to lean into what GOD says is good. His pleasures, His goodness, and His righteousness. There are a LOT of good things under His wings from food to drink to pleasures to passions to activities to hobbies to work to almost everything you can imagine. Abundant living includes a LOT of different things, but they all have a love of God and a placing of priority on God as part of them. God likes fun. God enjoys playfulness. God wants more for us than empty pleasure or ungodly passions. He wants the FULLNESS of His GOODNESS to be ours.

Summary

Life doesn’t stop when we give ourselves to the Lord. It BEGINS. All those things we THOUGHT were pleasures are revealed to be prisons. To be limiting things and positions that did not bring freedom or true joy or anything. We can all look back at things we THOUGHT were fun, but they no longer bring pleasure. Once we have tasted true living, true goodness, and true pleasures, nothing can bring us back to where we once were. God frees us from the shackles of darkness and disobedience. God brings us into the Kingdom of Light and Love and Freedom. In HIM we have all we could ever need. When we value things as He values things, life becomes a collection of wonderful moments and beautiful sights – regardless of our circumstances and what comes against us. In HIM is Joy and Love and Life and Freedom. Having God’s own heart is a Blessing to be HIGHLY desired.