The Opinion Which Really Matters

"Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it". -1 Samuel 31:4

It's just amazing to see how much one can learn from the life of Saul about what NOT to do. I know that down the road in the history of Israel there are many godless kings, but I wonder if we are given as many details about the psychological and spiritual make up of any as we have been about the life of Saul. I think Samuel did a great job with this. 

One of the many things that strike me from this verse is Saul's persistence on putting his fear of men above his almost void fear of God. We can see this pattern through so many examples in his life. Here specially, by deciding to kill himself, he shows complete contempt for the One that can "kill the soul", and instead feared, to the point of committing suicide, those who can just "kill the body". Mathew 10:28. What more disdain can you show God? Saul denies God's power, sovereignty and precedence above all, and I don't even want to think about what he faced after dying. I know this can sound presumptuous, and nobody should make a final judgement of somebody's eternal fate. But, the circumstances of his death certainly makes one wonder! I know that many people in today's modern society show the same disdain for God, to such point that they don't even understand the concept of sin. That is why in our endeavours to share the gospel we might need to start with bringing attention to God as our Holy creator and the existence of hell. 

A good application for those of us who are on our christian pilgrimage towards eternity with God is to think that putting fear of men over a proper fear of God may lead us to miss God's perfect purpose for our life. Well, thank Jesus for those times where we stumble and His grace covers us and restores us. We Christian should not live in fear of making mistakes, we will make mistakes, but we have an advocate in Christ who restore us and send us off to go on again after we have asked for forgiveness. (1 John 1:9). We have been and are being perfected in Christ. As long as we continue abiding in Him, we are safe. However, this lesson from Saul's life spurs me to always keep my fear of God in the proper place. I do really want to live as the opinion that really matter is God's.

Obeying When is Hard or Even When You Don't Understand

"At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp." Numbers 9:18

"At the command"..what a powerful statement! Interesting how the Lord would make them stand in the camp for longer periods of time and often even without an explanation. It almost looks like being in a boot camp with God to learn to obey. Interesting how it seems that the Lord was preparing his people for obedience so that they could accomplish the plans He had set for them. He knows that fulfilling our God's given purpose requires to follow him step by step even as very often we neither understand His every move nor the whole picture. But let's take heart, someday we will!..Well, or as I heard before, perhaps when the day arrives for us to understand, we would not bother anymore, because being in His presence would quiet all our questions and longings, filling us with surpassing joy and fulfilment. Oh that we would reach that worshipping level of obedience and trust! Teach us Oh LORD!

N.T - Cross-Reference: John 14:15, John 14:21

Obeying Even When it Doesn't Make Sense

Numbers 9:18: "At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp".

Insteresting how the Lord would make them stand in the camp for longer periods of time and without an explanation. It almost looks like being in a boot camp with God to learn to obey. Interesting how it seems that the Lord was preparing his people for obedience so that they could accomplish the plans He had set for them. He knows that fulfilling our God's given purpose requires to follow him step by step even as very often we neither understand His every move neither the whole picture. But let's take heart, someday we will!