1 Samuel 15:8-12: He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality. Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night. Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”

As children of God in Christ, we have been made kings and priests unto the Lord. However, even though God has appointed the body of Christ to walk in Kingdom authority and to fulfill certain duties on the earth, there are times when we struggle to be obedient to His will. If you struggle to obey God, and you beat yourself over the head, so to speak, know that you’re not the only one. Many Christians, if not all of us, struggle to obey God from time to time.

This isn’t an attempt to justify self-justification, but rather a lesson on what it might cost us when we allow ourselves the liberty to disobey God’s will. Let me say that partial-obedience is still disobedience in God’s eyes, and we see this in today’s passages. King Saul was commanded to destroy all the Amalekites, as well as all the animals. Saul destroyed all the people, but he allowed the king and the best animals to continue living. This greatly displeased the Lord to the point that He regretted appointing Saul the king of Israel.

It doesn’t require much faith to obey God when we already agree with His will. However, what do you do when God’s will opposes your will in any given situation? Do you submit to His will, or do you respond to God with self-justification? This is where self-justification can begin to enter our hearts, adversely affect our faith-walk and greatly reduce our authority to carry out the will of God in the earth. I use King Saul’s story today to illustrate what happens when children of God partially obey and use justification to prop up their disobedience. You see; if God takes the time and effort to order our steps, but we fail to see the value of His request, know that there is going to be severe repercussions for our disobedience.

Why does a child of God partially obey or justify disobedience before God when we know that He already knows that what we’re really telling Him is NO? We see the answer to this in today’s passages on King Saul. He had an agenda in his heart that caused him to assess the situation differently than God. As a result of Saul’s agenda, he overrode God’s plan and sinned in God’s sight. Had Saul yielded his plan to God’s will through faith instead of acting out of fear, then God would have been pleased by his faith and given him greater dominion. Since Saul chose to act in fear of the people and please them rather than God, God chose to remove him as king of Israel.

When we seek to please ourselves or other people when God has given us specific instructions, as He did with King Saul, then we will forfeit our spiritual authority as well. Finally, when we seek to disobey God and justify our sin, we will also have to blame someone else in order to shift the blame from us. As you read the entire chapter on Saul’s rejection of God’s perfect will, you’ll notice where the king had to blame the people whom he had previously used as an excuse to God for his sin.

1 Samuel 15:13-15: When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!” “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded. “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.”

King Saul declared to Samuel the prophet that he had fully obeyed the Lord and destroyed the Amalekites, but Samuel could hear the sounds coming from the animals taken from Israel’s enemies. Afterwards, Saul continued to justify his wrong deeds by placing the blame on the people that he was supposed to have ruled over. King Saul sought to please himself and man more than God, and it ultimately cost him the throne. Beware of partial obedience and self-justification because they will cost you far more than your fears threaten to take from you if you obey God. God told Samuel that He looks upon the heart . . . which was the very reason He chose David as King of Israel and rejected Saul. David was a man after the heart of God. He loved the law of God and hid it in his heart.  —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US