My sin.  God hates it.  Jesus died for it.  Do I hate it?  

Oh I can say I do, sure!  That’s the easy part.  But what about when God whispers in my ear, as I read His Word. . . and He tells me to change this.  Give up that.  Confess my sin to that person.  Ask for forgiveness.

That would cost me something, Lord! 

You may be sitting in church, listening to a great sermon (and at the same time, wishing THAT person was there to hear it). Man, I wish they could hear this!  They really need to change that in their life.

What about us?  What about our sin?  Certain sins, may be easy to pass by, and lay down at the foot of the cross.  But what about the sins that we like?  That appeal to our own fleshly nature  OUCH!  Is it watching that inappropriate movie?  Spending our time foolishly?  Telling that white lie?  Eating that next 10 bites, when we are already full to the brim? 

We coddle our sin.

Make excuses.

What we do, if we are honest, is tell the Lord “you can have all of this area of me. . . just don’t touch this part of the pie.  Leave that for me.  It won’t be that bad.”  

When what God really wants for us is to give Him all of us.  To walk in obedience.  To trust Him with every inch of our soul.  Do we think we know better?  Seriously?

Let’s Learn from Saul’s example of what NOT to do (1 Samuel 13:1-14)

(1 Samuel 13:3)Saul’s son, Jonathan smote the Philistines.  Saul’s pride sets in.  How could his son conquer the Philistines and not him?  He will get all the credit! 

But immediately following, (in verse 4), he blows his trumpet, calls attention to himself, and says that he smote the enemy.  He flat out lies when his pride is in jeopardy. 

(verses 5-7) At the sight of the Philistines gathering together against Israel, the people panic!  They did not have the proper resources to fight against this mounting army.  30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people in number as the sand on the seashore!  Israel had no weapons!  But they forgot who was on their side.  With God, all things are possible.  

DISOBEDIENCE

(verses 8-11) Before going into battle, Saul was to wait seven days for the prophet Samuel to come and offer a burnt offering and ask the favor of the Lord.  Saul waited the seven days.  Then he got very worried.  

Rather than wait for a priest to come, Saul decides to take matters into his own hands.  I can just pictures him saying, I have no choice Lord.  You aren’t coming through for me!  

Saul offers the sacrifice himself.  This was against the Law!  Many time we justify our sin, saying, we are doing a good thing.  It is NEVER a good thing, when we go against God’s Word.  God is more concerned with our obedience, than our sacrifice!  

(verses 12-14) Saul’s impatience caused him to act against God’s will.  He was under pressure, and decided to take matters into his own hands.  It is never okay to go against God’s Word.  His true character is revealed.  Saul lost his kingdom over his disobedience.

So won’t you give God all of you?  Daily?  Hourly?  It doesn’t mean that we won’t sin.  But don’t foolishly say, “I’ll just confess it later”.  Don’t take Christ’s sacrifice for granted.  Hate your sin, as much as God does.  See it as an offense to Him, more than something that you are striving to have victory over.  It’s not about us, it is about Him.  

If we really LOVE Him, as we say we do, we will confess our sin often.  Instead of seeing sin as this flippant thing that we toss back and forth in our life, it will begin to grieve our hearts, when we realize that it  grieves our Savior!

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