Bible Chapter: I Samuel 15 & 16

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    There are some verses in the Bible that stick out.  They are important to our daily lives and give us simple principles to guide our lives.  We find one of those verses in 15:22.  What does God delight in?  Sacrifice?  No, His greatest delight is when people obey Him.  The whole principle can be boiled down to four words: to obey is better.  If you take any situation in life, you can find the answers when you understand what God expects and then obey His commands.  Because of his disobedience, Saul lost the anointing and blessing of God for his position as king.
    God took another unlikely candidate and prepared him to become king of Israel.  David was taken from tending sheep and anointed king.  David’s family didn’t even consider him a candidate when Samuel showed up at their town.  But, God shows us another important principle here when Samuel thought the oldest son, Eliab, made a great candidate for king.  God looks at the heart of a person.  People look at the outside.  Is the person handsome and in possession of a commanding appearance?  Those people get the attention and are often considered qualified.  God is more concerned about the heart of a person.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    The topic of judgement comes out in these chapters.  God was judging the Amalekites for what they had done to Israel in the past. God judges Saul for his disobedience in not completely destroying the Amalekites.  God called rebellion sin.  I remember as I was growing up how my father was so against rebellion.  It was a very rebellious time in our nation’s history. My father wasn’t afraid to say how horrible rebellion is.  Here we see that God lists rebellion against legitimate authority as sin.  Then God told Saul that because he had rejected God, He would reject Saul as king.
    God judges sin.  God is fully against rebellion in the hearts of people.  It is insightful to see God’s perspective regarding judgement and rebellion.  These are two concepts that our culture is trying to change.  We are told not to judge and that it doesn’t matter what a person does.  We are told that, since God is love, we can do anything and God won’t judge it.  In effect, we are told we have permission to sin.  The truth is that God is and always will be a righteous Judge.  Remember: to obey is better.

3.  How can I help someone?
    I want to help people understand the principles that come out of these stories.  Learn what God expects and then do it.  It’s not that complicated.  Yet, because of human attitudes and temptation, people have a hard time doing that.  Trust God and let Him be your Guide.