Remember we are servants

In our reading today in 1 Samuel it is very sad to see the self-destruction of Saul. He had such promise at the beginning. It seemed that he was humble even though he had a many gifts: tall, handsome,..... Then things went south for him.

Twice he was confronted with his own fears. He feared the Philistine armies and he feared what the people thought of him. Both times that led to his disobedience, which showed that the wrong fear ruled his life. Had he the fear of the Lord; had he a right view of who God is and who he was in light of that, it is not likely that he would have fallen the way he did. But there was no fear of God and as a result, his heart was ruled by another fear.

Having disobeyed the Lord twice, the prophet Samuel declared that the kingship would be taken from him and given to another. Now not only fear ruled his heart but also jealousy and envy toward God's choice of a new king, David.

So driven by fear and jealousy, Saul pursued David. So controlled, and we would have to say blinded was Saul, that it led him to commit the atrocity we read about today. He had 85 people killed, not for anything they had done, but because he was not under the control of the spirit of His God. The remaining chapters of this book will show this gradual self-destruction. It is very sad.

Instead it would have been helpful for Saul to take on the attitude of Paul which we saw in 1 Corinthians 3. He said, "who are we but servants of Christ. Oh yes, we may have the opportunity to plant or even water, but it is God who gives the increase. He is the One who matters, we are but servants."

Had Saul had the attitude of Paul, it would have saved him from his self-destructive ways. A servant does not care if God elevates another in their place. A servant is only only interested in doing the will of their Lord. In fact, doing God's will becomes the controlling passion of their life, which in the end displaces all other passions: fear, jealously, envy,....

Brothers and sisters, as we go out this week, may we remember our identity as servants. God is Lord of our lives; we delight in doing His will. When God brings things into our lives, good or bad, we allow Him to call the shots. That is such a better way to live than to be control by our dark passions. May the Lord grant us His grace to live today consumed by our passion to walk only in His ways!