I would like to recommend that you read the entire chapter of I Samuel 15 before reading this post. But I will summarize it just in case your time is short since my post is based on this chapter.

Samuel had recently anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel and then he gave Saul a task. He tells him that the Lord wants him to go and destroy the Amalekites because of their treatment of Israel when they were crossing the wilderness. (15:2-3). So Saul gathers his forces and attacks, but he does not follow the Lord’s command that Samuel clearly told him. Saul was commanded to destroy everything and kill all of the Amalekites. Instead, he captured King Agag and took plunder of the livestock. When Samuel came to see Saul after the battle, Saul greeted him with the lie that he had done just as he was told to do. With what I consider a “gotcha” moment, Samuel asked Saul why he could hear sheep and cows if they were all dead. (15:13-15) Caught in his lie, Saul says that the Israelites planned to offer the animals as a sacrifice to the Lord. God didn’t ask for a sacrifice but for obedience and Samuel makes very clear to Saul that he is losing the throne he just got because of his rebellion. (15:18-23) Saul’s answer is very telling about the condition of his heart.

Instead of taking responsibility for his own actions, Saul blames the people over whom he rules. Not even close to true repentance and definitely too little, too late.

Lest you think that this Biblical story does not apply to you, I would like to point out that many of us are guilty of the same kind of rebellion that Saul practiced. We think our way is better, even when God clearly gives us other instructions. Then when we are caught and facing consequences, we tend to point to others who influenced us. Saul lost his kingdom because of his rebellion. We either obey God completely when He tells us what to do or we are choosing to rebel. God set the course for the entire earth and He is not One who allows rebellion to fester because it leads to others thinking it’s okay so they follow suit. We don’t have a kingdom to lose but how many blessings have we lost out on because we have chosen to go our own way? God opens a door and says to go through it, But, in our own power and what we consider intelligence, we open another door, enter and then when things don’t work out, we rail against God. God then gently but sternly will remind us that was not His plan for us but He allowed us to follow our own plan so that we could learn a valuable lesson, i.e. God’s plan is better and the only one that will succeed, the one that is best for us.

There is a lot of rebellion against God and His commands taking place in our world today. Transgenderism and homosexuality are sins that are rebellion against God. I can hear your sighing and thanking God that you are not guilty of those sins. But we are all guilty of rebellion at some time or another, little fires that we don’t notice that then become big conflagrations in our lives. TV time or devotional with God? Reading a book that you enjoy or prioritizing your time and spending time with God’s Word? I know I am guilty of making wrong choices at times and need to repent, back up and do what I know God would want me to do.

So what do we do when we head in the wrong direction and do the wrong thing? We should genuinely repent and ask God to forgive us instead of using the half-hearted “sorry, not sorry” blame game that Saul employed. God’s Word tells us that He is faithful to forgive if we confess and repent. (I John 1:9) God wants obedience, not sacrifice, and that starts in our attitudes and our hearts. I don’t want to stand before the Father and hear the words “Too little, too late” and I don’t think you do, either.

For a look at genuine repentance, read Psalm 51, David’s plea for forgiveness that is heartfelt and doesn’t blame anyone except himself for his own shortcomings. David was a man and he sinned, but he also repented. I think that is why he received Saul’s kingdom and God called him “a man after his own heart.”

When I read today’s scripture verses, I was hard pressed to understand how God who knows all would establish a king who would fail Him by disobeying. My answer is that God loves us and gives us chances to make the right choices, just as Adam and Eve had a choice in the Garden of Eden. When we fail, and we will because of our humanity, we need to be like David and genuinely repent. Turn away from the sin, change our ways and turn back towards God. God knows our hearts and what we are capable of as well as what rebellion lurks there if we allow it to come in. We have to force the door closed on anything that is not from God, choosing to honor Him in our actions and words, for our good always. Be a David and not a Saul. Don’t make excuses to God…just repent and change. God is a God of great grace, mercy and forgiveness, but we have to want Him more than we want our own way.