He Bought A Mirror

# 213 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 15:20,210 And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 "But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." (1 Sam15:20,21) Call it self-deceit, or self-justification, the fact is, it's something we all have to struggle with. Saul truly believes he has done what the Lord asked of him. First he says, “I went on the mission didn't I? I brought back proof of my total victory in the person of King Agag didn't I? As far as the livestock goes, well that was the people not me, and there intention was to offer it up to God as a sacrifice. What's wrong with that?” So full of excuses, yet God's command still stands, “utterly destroy them.” Anything less is disobedience, and the presence of Agag and the animals serve as witnesses against Saul. Saul wanted to be known as a great king. He wanted that more than He wanted to serve God. It's why he built a monument to himself after his victory over the Amalekites, and it's why he carried King Agag around like a trophy. And by the way, great kings always swooped down on the spoil don't they? Yes, in his own eyes, Saul would be like all the other great kings. I heard a spot on the radio the other day where a man was shopping for a god that would work for him. After discarding several different feel good gods offered by the clerk he finally settled on the god he would serve. He bought a mirror. De 10:12 says, "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” This is the God we must love and serve, and we can't do that when we yield to self-deceit to justify our disobedience.