Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king” 1 Samuel 15:22b-23
This is the story of Saul, the first king of Israel. God ordered Saul to go and attach the Amalekites and “utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” 1 Samuel 15:3. Instead of obeying God he chose to disobey. When confronted he blamed it on the people and used sacrifice as an excuse. Saul disobeyed the Lord’s order and thought he could use sacrifices to appease Him. There is a place for a sacrifice; we all know. But sacrifices cannot substitute obedience.
Did you know that hardwork is a form of sacrifice? Many times we work hard to cover the lost time. What could have happened is; you should have done what was supposed to be done at the right time and this pile up would not be necessary. We instead word harder to redeem the mistake we made when we let things slide. Are we not making a sacrifice to cover the lost production? We are under pressure and suffer stress just because we did not do what was supposed to have been done when it needed to be done. Everytime you are force to work harder and even bring along some job home, it is because somewhere you disobeyed and now you are paying the price. You sacrifice your family time for your disobedience.
Because of disobedience God rejected Saul as king. We see later in chapter sixteen the Lord sending Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint a new king. “Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 16:1. David was the man Samuel had to anoint to replace king Saul. Hear what Samuel says; “the LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 1 Samuel 13:14
Let us bring together the story of Saul and tie it up with that of Adam in the garden. Adam was also appointed king over the whole earth. He was to rule and subdue the earth. His descendants were to continue the government over the earth and over every living thing. But Adam disobeyed God and chose to obey Satan. He strayed away from God’s commandment and followed the intruder. In passing judgment God removed him from his estate and demoted him. Saul also did the same thing. Instead of obeying God’s order, he strayed and disobeyed. When the prophet confronted him; like Adam he did not repent. He blamed it on people. Because of the same sin Saul was demoted.
Disobedience leads to demotion – disobedience lead to relegation. You cannot disobey and still keep your position. Disobedience makes people loose their positions. You loose your position of respect in your house the moment you disobey God in your life. You loose your position of leadership in your house. This is where a lot of family violence comes from. Most families are led by demoted leaders. Once a man who is supposed to be the head of the family disobeys God he gets demoted. He looses respect of his wife and children and as such his house plunges into as state of a curse. The same is true with every woman who disobeys God and abdicates her responsibility and assume positions not ordained for her to occupy. She too gets demoted and loose honour bestowed on her by God.
Friends, you better pay attention here. If you disobey you will be demoted or even fired. You will loose your estate. What are we saying? Listen; if you don’t obey your boss you will loose your position. Haven’t you read what the Holy Spirit said through Paul in Romans thirteen verses one and two? “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”
If you don’t obey you will be demoted – worse still you may be fired. What do you think demotion or loss of job will do to your finances? What do you think it will do to your relationships? What about your dignity? What about your house and car? Disobedience will make you loose all these. Wouldn’t you agree with me that the results of all these will amount to poverty? You invite poverty just by being disobedient. We travel long distances and spend lots of money to hear the message of prosperity but we neglect the very things that are able to build our lives.
Haven’t any one told you that you are living in that house and driving that car because of obedience? Didn’t you know that you do not own what you have because of money? All that you have is yours because of obedience. We’ll talk about money after we agreed upon obedience. You obey your boss and he pays you more. You go to the bank and apply for a bond and a loan for a new car. How do they qualify you? They check on your obedience with the previous creditors. If you have been obedient to their conditions you will get approved; if not, your application will be turned down. Are you beginning to see something?
Disobedience will keep you poor. Since you started driving; how much have you spent on traffic fines? Why? Friend it’s all about disobedience. You cannot be disobedient and still be rich. Well; someone says “I am leading a disobedient life and I am still rich” Yes that’s a fact. There are so many disobedient people who are rich. But think about this; how rich could they’ve been if they were obedient? They’ve got a potential to reach a certain bench mark but due to disobedience they fall short. Unaware of this; they are still satisfied because they see themselves better than the rest. Their minimum becomes their maximum. I remember what we used to do at school. The teacher would ask that we write an assay and fill three pages. Remember what we did? We developed a skill of writing with big letters and fill three pages with less story. You see? Big letters gave us a short story but we still manage three pages. Our minimum has become our maximum. Unless you are performing at your full potential you are under-performing.
That’s how a disobedient person would think he is rich in his disobedience. He compares himself with other people with less potential than him instead of comparing himself with his own potential. Once you can play the game by the rules you will surprise yourself how rich you can be. So don’t be fooled by your achievement; measure it according to your potential.
There are rules to follow, commandments to obey, orders and authorities to submit to. We are loosing every day just because we are DISOBEDIENT. Disobedience is synonymous to rebellion. Hear what God says and consider your ways. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” This is how God abhors disobedience.
DISOBEDIENCE LEADS TO REPLACEMENT
…to be continued
No comments:
Post a Comment