Memorise: For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. Acts 1:20
One truth that everyone born of God must have at the back of their minds is that God has substitutes. He can therefore never be held to ransom by anyone. Whenever God decides to use a person, if that fellow does not yield to God at the time of His requisition, God will move on to use another person to fulfil His purpose. More often than not, such substitutes are better than the original recipients of God’s mandate. Such was the case with King Saul.
“And Samuel said unto him, the
LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a
neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 1st Samuel 15:28
When a man feels too big to
obey God’s instruction, he is not fit for God’s use. In the family of the works
of the flesh, pride, stubbornness and rebellion and kinsmen, with witchcraft as
their first cousin (Galatians 5:19-21). The Lord through Samuel reminded King
Saul that there was nothing special about him before He made him king over
Israel. King Saul himself did not see himself as qualified, yet God’s grace
preferred him, despite the fact that he came from the least of the tribes of
Israel (1st Samuel 9:21). This is the reason why whosoever God decides to use
should not allow himself or herself get carried away by the glamour of the
office he or she is occupying. The fellow should always keep in mind where he
or she is coming from and what he or she used to be. God does not use the
qualified; rather, He qualifies the fellow He wants to use.
When King Saul began to feel
too big to obey the Lord’s commandment, he was replaced with a ready-made
substitute, whom the Lord declared to be better than King Saul. My prayer for
you is that you will not be replaced in the scheme of things in God’s kingdom
in Jesus’ Name. Beloved, we should know that God has substitutes that can
readily replace us if we fail to yield to His instructions. Never see yourself
as being indispensable before God. Take heed to what the Lord Jesus Christ said
concerning this in Matthew 3:9:
“And think not to say within
yourselves, we have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able
of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Prayer Point: Father, please
help me to overcome anything I am doing now that may eventually make You find a
substitute for me in Your Kingdom. Please don’t replace me with anyone or
anything.
Read: 1st Samuel 15:16-16:1
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. 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have
transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared
the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon
my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And
Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the
word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being
king over Israel. 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold
upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28 And Samuel said unto him,
The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath
given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 29 And also
the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he
should repent. 30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray
thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with
me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. 31 So Samuel turned
again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord. 32 Then said Samuel,
Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him
delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 33 And
Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be
childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before
the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went
up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul
until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and
the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
16:1 And
the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing
I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and
go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king
among his sons.
Bible in one year: Genesis 1-2,
Isaiah 41:8-20
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