Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel. - 1 Sam. 15:35 NIV
It's a sad thing when because of our inability to take the commands of God seriously, we become alienated from him. It doesn't always happen overnight. Perhaps we start taking the position that God has placed us in for granted. Perhaps we begin to think that we are responsible for people's salvation. Finally, we get to the place where we think we know better than God.
Such was the case with Saul. This unassuming, shy, self effacing man who was chosen by God to become king lets the power go to his head. Rather than destroying all of the Amalekites as God told him to do, he decided to save the best for a sacrifice to God. At least, that's what he said he was going to do with the plunder. But it didn't matter. Even if his intentions were purely honorable, they were not what God had asked. "Obedience is better than sacrifice" God told him through Samuel. When our ego gets so puffed up that we think we are going to do something for God in spite of what he has told us to do, we are in trouble. No amount of self-justification will repair the breach in the relationship with God. Nothing grieves the heart of God more.
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