Saul. Impatient. Impetuous. A man of action. His own action. Some might say these are marks of a leader. He thought so. Defeat and destroy Amalek, leave nothing alive, destroy it all: the “cherem” sentence, everything and everyone must be taken from this realm and delivered directly to the Creator for and as judgment. “Yes we did, we did it all!” Then the sheep bleat. Saul, you have done your will, not that of the One who made you king. Obedience trumps your sacrifices, Saul. Rebellion, looking to yourself not Me, is like looking to the spiritists for answers. Presumptive thinking about what I would want, “You said ‘this’ but really meant ‘that’, didn’t You, God?”, becomes worship and sacrifice to another god, as if there is another.
Now for a new king, the one whose heart is like God’s, 1 Sam. 13:14. This one? Tall, brave, smart looking. You want this one to be king, right? Now comes Samuel’s turn to wonder what God sees, and so the Lord tells him. “You do not see what I see. You don’t go deep enough.” And so they call in David, a shepherd boy, to become the leader, the beginning of a dynasty whose Descendant truly rules in heaven and earth.
People see the one leper who returns to thank Jesus. Jesus sees the gratitude and acknowledges the man, but still says, “Where are the nine?” People know that a grand kingdom will appear. Where? When? How? Jesus sees what they do not. “…the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Jesus begins to speak of the end of Jerusalem. The End? of the great city of Israel? Yes. God sees what man does not.
Seeing only three dimensions and being rushed through the fourth, we dash around in each day. When I look at the world, at the people, what do I see? When my life takes turns I do not expect and I need to make decisions in things that perplex me, and that do not make sense, whom do I trust, or blame? or thank? What does God see in that person I could have encouraged for only 10 seconds? What great beginnings wait in the words that I hesitate to speak? What great good does God have in store for others through my life when I see one of His doors of opportunity and say to myself, “You have GOT to be kidding!”
Prayer: Oh, Lord God of Heaven and Earth, Creator of all, Holy, truly All Seeing, All Knowing, Gracious Father, Help me to see with Your eyes, to hear with Your ears, love with Your heart, to move or stay still at Your call, to lay down my life in the flowing streams of Your plan of life in this day.
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