Mostly obedient

by Janette Lange

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Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22b).

Read 1 Samuel 15:1–3,7–23

You can’t be ‘mostly’ obedient, just like you can’t be ‘mostly’ dead. You either are or you’re not. Saul finds this out to his downfall.

However confronting we might find what God asks of Saul, we can all agree that Saul falls short in his obedience to God. God gives him a clear direction to counter evil. But Saul comes up with an approach he thinks is better than God’s, one in which he only partially deals with the problem. It’s a solution that also happens to keep the best of the spoils for his people. These will be offered to God, but it means the people receive a good feast as well. What’s not to like? It’s a win-win-win situation. Almost.

Saul is happy (and promptly celebrates his success by building a monument to himself). The people are happy (particularly with Saul). But God? No, he isn’t happy. Saul hasn’t actually done what he has been asked to do. He’s let his greed and desire to win people’s approval get in the way. And then he tries to claim he did it for God to justify his actions.

We can be like Saul, too. We can be willing to pick and choose which parts of God’s voice we will heed or obey. It can be easy to rationalise our actions to ourselves, happy that we’re ‘mostly obedient’. Or we tell ourselves, God didn’t really mean what he said.

But God is calling us to partner with him in countering evil – in the world and in our own lives. And he is calling us to complete obedience, no matter how uncomfortable or difficult that may be or the sacrifice that it might entail.

Mercifully, God knows that full obedience is beyond us. That’s why he sent Christ, who was fully obedient, even to the point of dying for us. Christ, who fully vanquished evil for us and has set us completely free. Christ, who was raised to give us new life in all its fullness. Christ, who reigns in our hearts and whose Spirit empowers us to be more obedient each and every day.

Almighty God, we thank you for Christ’s perfect obedience, which has set us free and given us new life. For his sake and in your mercy, you do not count our disobedience against us. In the power of the Holy Spirit, please help us to respond with lives of obedience and joy. Forgive us when we fall short. Amen.

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