1
Samuel 10:1–11:15, James
2:14–18, Psalm
119:65–80
Yesterday I read about a respected pastor who fell into
sin and had to resign from his church. Such news hurts my heart and makes me wonder
what happened. He started well, but did not end well. Yet this is not a total
shock because this does happen in the kingdom of God. It shows the frailty of
humanity and the power of sin.
From the beginning with Noah who started well and ended
poorly, and on into the present day, God’s people have discovered the hard way
that diligence is a rare commodity. Saul, Israel’s first king, started well.
The prophet Samuel said to him, “The Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will
prophesy with them and be turned into another man.” (1 Samuel 10:6)
This happened, for when Saul turned his back to leave
Samuel, God “gave him another heart” (10:9),
but his new heart was ignored soon after that while Samuel prepared to make a
public announcement of the new king . . .
“He brought the tribe of
Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and
Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not
be found. So they inquired again of the Lord,
‘Is there a man still to come?’ and the Lord
said, ‘Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.’ Then they ran
and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than
any of the people from his shoulders upward.” (1 Samuel 10:21–23)
Saul’s appearance wasn’t enough to give him the courage
needed to face his responsibilities. He may have been tall (and previous verses
said he was very handsome), but that wasn’t enough. He also had been given a
new heart, which is rarely mentioned as a quality of OT believers, but even
that did not prevent him from giving in to a cowardly streak. It happened to
this man and it happens to Christians in the NT and also today.
In the NT, James exhorts believers to affirm and display
their faith with action. Claiming faith is one thing, but doing something that
proves it is a different and more difficult challenge. The Bible is clear; I
cannot SAY Jesus is Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit. It also says
that I cannot DO anything apart from Christ; I must abide in Him and rely on
Him for, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone
says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a
brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you
says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the
things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it
does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14–17)
How then can a person, particularly a person that God has
saved and transformed, fall? A better question might ask how can a believer be consistently
obedient? How can I conquer the power of sin that grips my old nature and
threatens to overpower me every day?
The psalmist knew the answer: “It
is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes . . . . I
know, O Lord, that your rules are
righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” (Psalm 119:71, 75)
It is by affliction that we are broken — and in the
kindness and mercy of God, we are afflicted. Oh, we don’t like it or want it.
Many Christians seem to think we are not to accept affliction, as if God owes
us heaven on earth. One sore toe and we pray for healing. Any trial or
tribulation and we pray for its removal. How difficult to learn the lesson that
suffering is a sign of God’s faithfulness.
I know this. I’m not happy about the reality of it, yet it
does test my priorities. Do I want to be comfortable in this life? Or do I want
to start well and finish well? I like the choice made by the psalmist . . . “May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may
not be put to shame!” (Psalm
119:80)
I can say the words . . . but must be diligent for I am
also capable of running and hiding among the baggage.
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