What does God want from us?!?

"Samuel said, 'Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.'"

(1 Samuel 15:17)

As payback for their previous actions toward Israel, Samuel instructs Saul to go to battle vs. the Amalekites. The command from the LORD is to destroy everything and everyone. Saul leads the troops into battle, they defeat the Amalekites, they capture their king, they take as 'spoil' all the good stuff (sheep, cattle, valuables, etc.), and destroy the "junk stuff."

Now, setting aside the command to kill everyone (hard for us to fathom today, especially given the politically & religiously charge environment we live in now), let's look exclusively at Saul's actions. When Samuel met him later, Saul was proud of their accomplishments. "What then is the bleating of sheep... and the lowing of cattle that I hear," Samuel asks. "Oh that?!?! We saved the good stuff to offer to the LORD!" Samuel reminds Saul that God didn't ask him to "save the good stuff" for sacrifices. God asked for obedience. Why didn't Saul follow those directions?

For starters, the "spoils of war" are a tradition. Winning armies get to keep the good stuff. Maybe Saul was a bit greedy? Maybe he wanted to give a little bonus to his men? Maybe he really did want to sacrifice to God... but why? Samuel's response in v.17 is so telling: "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And the LORD sent you on a mission... Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD?"

Evidently Saul had some kind of self-confidence problem. Samuel recognized that he seemed "little in your own eyes." Wow. That must have stung. If Saul doubted, questioned, or felt insignificant, then maybe he thought he'd need to give God "a little bit more" than God had asked for (thus the sacrifice). But is it really a "sacrifice" if it was never yours to begin with? Samuel wanted Saul to live into the role of King. And he could best do that by following the words of the Lord. Not coming up with his own "better" plan.

When I think about my own life, I wonder about my roles as pastor, husband, father, friend, Christian, etc. The very best I can do is to be faithful to God's calling. Scriptures are very clear that salvation is God's gift. We can't earn it, and we don't deserve it. So why get it into our minds that we have to "prove" ourselves to God... or "surprise" God by going "above and beyond," like Saul tried. Oftentimes "above and beyond" isn't anywhere near what God wants from us. So why not just stick with being faithful?!?

Help me to love you with my whole heart, O God. And to love all the others around me with equal passion. That's the basics. AMEN.