The beginning of the book of 1 Samuel follows the reign of King Saul. Geez, does this guy have his ups and downs with the Lord! He continually tends to....shall we say..."modify" the Lord's instructions to suit his desires and the desires of his people. God is continually sending Samuel to get Saul back on track.
Finally, enough was enough and Samuel told Saul "Since you have rejected the Lord's command, He has rejected you as king of Israel." (1 Samuel 15:26) He then informed Saul that God had chosen someone else to be king and that He would not change His mind.
And do you know what Saul's response was? It was this:
"Then Saul pleaded again, 'I know I have sinned. But please, at least HONOR ME before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.'" (1 Samuel 15:30)
WHAT??? Saul was more concerned about public opinion of him than he was about his personal relationship with God. He wanted to make sure that the people still thought highly of HIM and that they still thought Samuel supported HIM and that they saw HIM publicly worship God.
Terrible huh? But....do I do that? Do you?
I'd like to think not. But, I do find this passage as a good reminder to evaluate my heart and my actions. I don't just want to APPEAR close to God, I want to BE close to God. Yeah, admittedly, everyone has a "behind the scenes" where we definitely aren't perfect. But, in reality, if our actions and behaviors "behind the scenes" are oftentimes different from our actions and behaviors in public.... then we need to examine our hearts and our motives. We need to be less concerned with who people THINK we are and more concerned with who we actually ARE. Remember- "People judge by the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
My prayer today: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." (Psalm 139:23)
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