Our hearts are naturally selfish and are in need of a supernatural makeover.
1 Samuel 10:1 - 16:71 Samuel 10:7 After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you. 8 Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.” 9 As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart,
1 Samuel 13:7 Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. 11 but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”
Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the LORD’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”
13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you.
It is very difficult for anybody to wait, everybody wants “it” now, whatever “it” is, “it” better be now. I guess that’s a sign of selfishness that is innate to all of us, looking out for our own interest doesn’t blend too well with the concept of waiting, if I have to wait then it must not be all about me.
The new king of Israel had to wait, Samuel told Saul to go to Gilgal and wait there for his arrival. Well Saul goes to Gilgal but instead of waiting he decides that doing is a better option.
The Philistine army was provoked by the king’s son Jonathan (1Sam 13:1) and they positioned themselves for war against Israel, and now Saul’s entire kingdom is scared, “they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows. And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead” (1Sam 13:6, 7).
So far so good, Saul is still waiting at Gilgal just like Samuel told him to do, there is trouble all around, you may even say that he caused the trouble, Samuel didn’t send him to Gilgal to start a war he was just told to go and that later the priest was going to come and “sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings”
But after seven days of waiting and a war just round the corner, Saul gave up waiting and decided that if they were going to be fighting a war then they should take care of these offerings so that they would have all the help that they could get. Saul was looking at the circumstances and he allowed the situation to decide his ethics.
Was Saul’s decision not to wait a selfish move?
How did God desire Saul to act even in the face of difficult circumstances?
We are faced with difficult decisions in life and when we make our choices we reveal our heart condition. If our choices are not aligned with God’s will or they are outside of his commands then our hearts are not right and we need to deal with what's on the inside because it directly affects what people see on the outside.
Our hearts are naturally selfish and are in need of a supernatural makeover, which is where the Holy Spirit does his work, cleaning out the dark corners of our wicked hearts.
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we must give up control and wait on the Lord, he is never late and will give us strength for every situation.
It’s all about you Lord and not about me, help me to work within your timing. Create a pure heart in me that will make choices that are pleasing to you, choices that will glorify you.
