Title: For Your Own Good
Memorize: If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. Psalm 50:12 (Nkjv)
Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 15:16-23 (Nkjv)
[16] Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.”
[17] So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?
[18] Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
[19] Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
[20] And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
[21] But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
[22] So Samuel said: “Has 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 heed than the fat of rams.
[23] For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
Message:
If the richest man in the world gives you $100 and later tells you to loan him the money back because he needs it for something urgently, you will most likely give him immediately because he was the one who gave you the money in the first place, and you know that he can give you so much more. This is why l am surprised when I see people who refuse to pay their tithes. The God who instructed them to bring 10% of what they have is the one who gave them 100% of what they have in the first place. He even promised in Malachi 3:10 that if a fellow gives Him 10% of whatever He blesses him or her with, He will pour down a blessing into the fellow’s life that will be so big that it will overflow. If anyone still refuses to give Him 10% of what He has blessed him or her with, whose loss is it?
Obeying God’s instructions can be tough sometimes, but when you think carefully, you will realize that He owns everything you have, and it will become easier to obey Him. My dear child, has God given you a particular instruction that you are struggling to obey? Do not be like King Saul, who forgot his origin and ended up being disgraced, as we read in today’s Bible reading. I pray that God will strengthen you to always obey Him, in Jesus’ name.
Key Point:
When you obey God, you are doing yourself a favor.
HYMN 35: TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS
1 Tis so sweet to trust in
Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise;
Just to know, “Thus saith the Him! Lord.”
Refrain
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him
How l’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
‘Neath the healing, cleansing Hood!
Refrain
3 Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
Refrain
4 I’m so glad I learn’d to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend,
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
Refrain
Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 48:1-49:22, & 2 Timothy 4:1-22
Authors: Pastor E. A. Adeboye and Pastor Folu Adeboye