OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-FRIDAY-29/07/2016-JUST DO IT RIGHT-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
JUST DO IT RIGHT
Memorise
And
having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is
fulfilled. 2nd Corinthians 10:6
Read
1st
Samuel 15:16-23
16 Then
Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he
said unto him, Say on.
17 And
Samuel said, when thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the
head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord
anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And
the Lord sent thee on a journey,
and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against
them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice
of the Lord, but didst fly upon
the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 And
Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the
king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But
the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which
should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22 And
Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For
rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
KJV
MESSAGE
A good number
of people confuse service of God’s approval or acceptance. It will be
profitable for people, particularly children of God, to understand that it is
one thing to engage in the service of God and it is another thing for God to
accept your service. The simple message for today is – “just do it right, and
God will accept you and your service”. The Bible says:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1
In our Bible
reading today, we read of the first king in Israel who put sacrifice over and
above being obedient to God and His Word. God told King Saul to go and utterly
destroy the Amalekites and everything they possessed; from the king to the
least of the beasts. However, Saul went, fought and won the battle, but failed
to carry out God’s instruction to the letter. When he was cross-examined by
Prophet Samuel, he had the effrontery to tell Samuel that he had done what God
asked him to do, except the soil of sheep and oxen which he took to use as
sacrifice to the Lord. This unfortunately cost him his throne. Samuel said:
“….. Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.”
1st Samuel 15:22
There is a
great lesson we should learn from the story of King Saul and the assignment he
was given to fight the Amalekites. Some people seem to be more spiritual than
the Holy Spirit when you consider the way they claim to know everything about
the ways of God. It is not unlikely that King Saul felt it would be a waste of
resources by totally destroying the material resources in Amalek. It is also
not unlikely that he felt it will be an act of wickedness on the part of God to
have asked him to kill the king Agag. Beloved, there are many types of
Amalekites and king Agags that God will want us to get rid of in our life. The
Bible lists some things that we must do away with in Galatians
5:19-21
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like...”
Some
so-called workers in the Church are still harbouring these things that we are
to get rid of, yet they are ‘zealously’ working for God. It is unfortunate that
their labour attracts no reward. Jesus said that on that day, they will come
and say:
“We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou
hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence
ye are, depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”
Luke 13:26-27
May this not
be your portion in Jesus’ name.
Prayer Point
Father, please help me to be
obedient, and begin to do the right thing in your sight from now onward.
Bible in one year
2nd Timothy 1-4,
Psalms 22:1-21
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