Saul's Mishap: All or Nothing

As I continue to slowly work my way through 1 Samuel, I have been pretty fascinated by some of the stories. The most recent story to catch my attention involves Saul and his disobedience. In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, God gives Saul some very clear instructions:

"'I'm about to get even with Amalek for ambushing Israel when Israel came up out of Egypt. Here's what you are to do: Go to war against Amalek. Put everything connected with Amalek under a holy ban. And no exceptions! This is to be total destruction—men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys—the works.'"

God says, "No exceptions."

So, of course, like any good subject, Saul makes some exceptions in verses 7-9:

Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border. He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban. Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban.

God was not very happy with Saul. In fact, God rejected Saul as king of Israel.

Saul decided not to listen completely listen to God. Sure, he listened to most of what God had to say. He had the idea, but he failed to listen completely to what God had to say.

Last night, Trent and I were riding bike and I mentioned this story. Trent said that this is pretty much how a lot of us our with God. We tend to hold back a little bit - save just a little bit for ourselves.

In my life, this has been a pretty common theme. I have always tried to have a back-up plan. The most significant example involves work. Because I have a teaching license, there is always just this little piece of me lingering back and wondering about teaching. Lately, I have been wondering what it would be to let go of this and just dive fully into my work in technical services at Coleman. Well, let's just say it has evolved from wondering about to acting upon these thoughts. Honestly, I can say that the last few weeks have turned into some of the most enjoyable days of my tenure at Copperfield-Coleman Cable. Sure it is stressful and I still have problems with anger. Yet, it is also exciting and even interesting again. In a lot of ways, I feel more relaxed and am grasping the importance of relationships and building bridges. I'm pretty interested to see what the next weeks and months have in store.

Take care,

Todd