What Does God Want From Me?

Introduction

Good morning. If you will, open your Bibles with me to 1 Samuel chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8. While you’re turning there, consider the question, what does God actually want from me? When you think about being a Christian, you might think of a lot of different aspects. You may think of Jesus the Christ. You may think of the sacrifice that he was once for all of mankind. And the fact that Jesus, who was crucified, was raised from the dead, defeating the power of death, and giving all of us, God’s precious creation, a chance, a hope, a way of being with God forever. But it may be that you consider Christianity a list of rules and regulations, and I would suggest that that understanding misses the biblical boat, the biblical idea of being a servant of Christ, one who submits to the will of our Savior, the one who submits to the will of our God, our Maker, our Creator.

But in 1 Samuel chapter 8, you find the people of God, the Israelites, at a crucial point in their history. Dating all the way back to Abraham, we see that this great nation was made as God had promised Abraham it would be. And there were the people of Israel. And they answered to God, yes, with leaders such as Moses and Joshua, and in this case, judges. But that system was soon to change. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning in verse 1, note with me that Samuel had become old, and his sons were judges over Israel. Now that might be okay, because Samuel was a good man, a very godly man, and a key figure in the story we’re going to get to just seven chapters over this morning.

But consider verse 3, and you see how this all began. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the Israel elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama and said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people and all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

According to all the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then obey their voice, only you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. And that warning is issued in verses ten through eighteen. Samuel warns the people, this is what’s going to happen when you get a king. Yes, you want a king to lead you into battle. Yes, you want to be like those other nations. But if you’re going to be like those other nations, you’re going to be like those other nations. You’re going to be taxed. He’s going to take the best of what you have.

He is going to rule you as a king alone can do. Not like the judges, not like especially Moses or Joshua’s lead. He was going to be a king who would rule and exercise the authority that that leader would have. And of course, when you come to verse 19, you see the decision, the warnings did not sway them from what they were fixed on. The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us that we may also be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, Obey their voice and make them a king.

Samuel then said to the men of Israel, Go every man to his city. And they found a man in chapter 9 and verse 2 who was going to be their first king, the king of the whole kingdom of Israel, the united kingdom of Israel, the first king that God’s people would have after they rejected God from being king over them. And that was this man described in verse 2, thusly. He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. I want to tell you, if there is someone who looks like a king who you want to lead you, to lead you into battle, to judge your cases, to be over you.

And there was looks. Saul would win that contest every time. He was, as the Bible describes in verse 2, as you see again, the most handsome man among the people of Israel. And not just was he handsome, he was tall, from his shoulders upward. He was taller than any of the people. Your translation may read something about being a head taller than the people. And so when you come to Saul, we think, well, okay, God allowed them to have a king, and that’s obviously a rejection of God, as God tells Samuel it was, in chapter 8. And yet that wasn’t it. The kingdom would still continue. Israel would still reign, and maybe if Saul was the king that he looked like he could be, that the people could still be pleasing to God, that this king would shape the culture of the people to be one that focused on the one true and living God.

Because that’s what God wants. He wants a people who are dedicated to serving him, not just with sacrifices, not just with ritual, but with their whole heart. Now I think when you consider the question, what does God want from me? I want to learn some lessons from Saul this morning in 1 Samuel chapter 15. But the heart of the matter is, what does God want from me? And it’s the very thing God wanted from Saul and his people then. And look, can I tell you, it’s not just doing a lot of the right things. That’s not all God wants. God wants all of our heart. He wants our complete devotion to him. Not most of it, not a lot of it, not 99% of it. He wants his creation.

He wants us to submit to him. And you see, the problem is, we sometimes are like Saul in chapter 13, and a passage we’ll come back to towards the end of the lesson. Saul already goes and gets what he might call strike one, or strike one and a half or two. And that’s when he upsets the Lord. And in chapter 13 and verse 14, we’re going to read that a replacement was already pegged for Saul. Saul had already turned his back on the Lord. He hurried and offered a sacrifice that he was not authorized to do, and this shockingly did not please the Lord. But when we come to chapter 15, we note it’s the same Saul, who in chapter 14 has an interesting run in with promises and making a vow rashly.

1. What Did God Want From Saul?

But in chapter 15 is where I want to focus this morning and consider what God wants and what Saul gives. And then we’ll take some lessons to see where do we fit in in this picture. In 1 Samuel chapter 15, read with me the first three verses. And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

What we’re going to see is Saul’s disregard for God, but it’s important to see first and foremost, what did God want from Saul? God commanded to strike Amalek to utterly destroy these people. Now, I do want to pause and make a note that this doesn’t sound like something that a loving God would do, and oftentimes that’s an argument that an atheist will present. They’ll say, Well, what about your genocidal God? What about the God who murdered? What about the God who told his people to run through and destroy people? And when you look at verse 3 of this chapter, to our mind in this 21st century, we say, do not spare them, kill both man and woman? Kill child and infant. Where is the just nature of our God here?

But we need to consider two points. First and foremost, is God just and holy? If he is, then our understanding is what is lacking and reconciling God in this chapter and our ways. You see, because there’s our understanding of it, and there’s God’s doing of it. And if we don’t see that they mesh, whose problem is it? But secondly, consider then specifically the people. In verse 3, who was it that Saul was to destroy? Who was he to lead the armies of the people of Israel up against? Those are the people of Amalek. Not only was Amalek a descendant of Esau, the Amalekites were a people who consistently and constantly plagued not just people, not just disobeyed God, they came after the Israelites. They came after the weak, they came after the stragglers.

They took after God’s people. And they had some measures of success in being a thorn in his people’s side. Consider with me in Deuteronomy chapter 25. This will shape our God. You want to know something about our God, a point that we will come back to towards the end. In Deuteronomy chapter 25. Consider about this, people of Amalek. Consider the Amalekites. In Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 17 through 19. You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the Lord has declared today that you are a people. I’m reading in chapter 26, for his treasured possession as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor, high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has promised.

Now, when you see this, in the end of verse 2 chapter 26, what do you note? You know the people who were to be what? Holy to the Lord. What was this holiness that they were to emulate? Certainly God is holy, but they were to submit to the commandments and the statutes that God had given them. The people of Israel were to be exactly as God wanted them to be, committed to his ways. Now you see, the other nations didn’t have the law of Moses, and yet God still judged them. When you look in chapter 27, and now we come to the Amalekites, what was their law in life? When you see in Deuteronomy chapter 25, excuse me, I’m going backwards here. In Deuteronomy chapter 25, in verse 17.

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came up out of Egypt. How he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget. Forget what? Well, the reference was as they came out of Egypt, Amalek was behind them, catching them, not cutting off a physical tail, cutting out those who were behind, those who were lagging, as they’re coming out of Egypt.

You can read the story in Exodus chapter 17, as you worked for the middle through the end of that great chapter. And you see the people in their great moment of victory are being plagued by the Amalekites. And God’s purpose with them in verse 19 was clear. You shall blot out the memory of them. Do you see that? That is sure. That is from God. Was it just? Absolutely it was. What were the charges? He attacked you on the way. Now I ask you, if God’s expectations for his people was holiness and commitment to the Lord. And then you have the people of Amalek who come forward and they are plaguing these. They are opposing God’s chosen people. They are murdering God’s people. Is this just or unjust?

2. Saul Did Most of What Was Right

Consider that God had promised, and his delivery was sure. No, it was not the next day. No, it was not even that very moment. But God’s promise should be fulfilled. God said Amalek would be wiped out. They should not forget how Amalek plagued the people of Israel. And God was telling Saul to fulfill his promise. So when you come back to 1 Samuel chapter 15, as you see what Saul’s commandment is, it’s pretty clear whether we agree with it or not, God’s marching orders are absolutely understandable and doable. So we see in verse 4, let’s see how Saul goes about accomplishing God’s will. In verse 4, so Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Teleam. Two hundred thousand men on foot and ten thousand men of Judah.

And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay and waited in the city. Then Saul said to the Canaites, Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. Let me stop and make a note. Here is our God. What did the people of Cenite do? The Kenite people helped those of Israel, and God is giving them fair warning. They are being spared by God’s nation. In verse 7, though, and Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen of the fat and calves and the lambs, and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless, they devoted to destruction. Now, that is a rounding victory for the people of Israel. They came in, they defeated the Amalekites, they have the King Agag, they took the best of their lambs, they took the best of their calves, they destroyed what was worthless. This was a crowning moment for the people, right? Not when you can remember when you remember, and you compare it to what God commanded. Did God say to spared the king? No. God commanded that all the people, men and woman, child and infant, be destroyed.

What about when you think about the best of the sheep, best of the calves? Did they do a good thing there? Well, Saul’s going to point to that. But was that what God asked for? No. At the end of verse 3, what did he say in addition to the people? Ox and sheep, camel and donkey were marked for destruction. Complete annihilation is what God asked for, and that is not what Saul delivered. So then we see in verse 10, and moving forward, we see that Saul has to answer for this. And God’s moment, his reaction is clear in verse 11, I regret that I have made Saul king. For he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry and he cried to the Lord all night.

And you see something interesting about God here. Even though God’s command was for the people to wipe out the Amalekites, and Saul did a lot of that, God was not pleased. You think that’s a little bit different than the way we reason, the way we think? I mean, if you look at it from a victory standpoint in terms of people, we see that some of the Amalekites did escape because guess what happens in later chapters in Bible history? Those people come back and again plague the Israelites until they are finally wiped out. But what’s interesting about this is not that Saul didn’t do what was right or that God would be upset. It’s that Saul did most of what was right. He did a lot of good.

3. Saul’s Excuses: The People Spared the Animals

And we’re going to see how Saul decides to respond. Picking up in verse 13, if you were Saul, if I was giving answer to God for what I’ve done, what would be my response in this case? It might be a lot like Saul’s. In verse 13, and Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What then is the bleeding of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear? See, so Saul had one of either two things in mind here. Either he was oblivious to the fact that he had clearly violated God’s law, or he’s lying. Either way doesn’t reflect well on the leader of God’s people, does it?

When you consider Saul’s response, this is either an outright lie or poor understanding. And when we think about being Saul, that’s not the type of person we want to be. Can you imagine standing before God at judgment, and saying, I did what you asked, knowing that we did not. We would not be able to speak. We will not be able to lie in the presence of God. Perhaps we could be fooled. Perhaps if we gave Saul the benefit of the doubt that I don’t believe he deserves, we could say that he thought he was doing what was right. But of course, that wasn’t the end of his excuses. He continued on to place blame in the next step. You see in verse 15. That Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites.

They have brought them from the Amalekites. For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction. Then Samuel said to Saul, stop, I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night. And he said to him, speak. And Samuel said, Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, Go devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?

I gotta tell you, verse 19 makes me shake a little bit on the inside. Can you imagine? And this is something we will face, we will stand before our God. Can you imagine someone, a messenger of God, or the voice of God himself, saying to me, Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Samuel, on behalf of the Lord, is making clear the case. You knew what God commanded. God commanded the annihilation of the people, and you didn’t do it. Why did you reject God? Man, this century, this life, maybe some in our congregation today would say, He did most of what God wanted. Is this really how God is? Maybe our New Testament God is different. You see, there’s a difference here.

The idea is not that God will not forgive. The idea is that Saul purposely knew what God said and didn’t do it. Do you see that’s a heart problem? God wants our heart. We’re going to see that magnified in a moment. But consider the two excuses that he offers. You saw it in verse 15, and certainly it comes out as he continues speaking. It was the people who spared the animals. They did it. You see the deflection? Samuel’s coming to Saul saying, You’re the leader of God’s people. Saul says, They spared the animals. But it wasn’t just that they spared the animals. And it wasn’t just that Saul tells Samuel in response to the Lord, your God. But thirdly, he doubles down on what he said earlier, and he blames the people again.

And he says he did what God wanted, because after all, these animals were spared for a purpose. Not just because they were valuable, but they were spared to be sacrificed to the Lord. Now that’s a good thing. That’s a spiritual intent. Again, I’m not sure Saul and the people of Israel in this case deserve the benefit of the doubt. But let’s give it to them. Do you think that maybe it was acceptable to God because they disobeyed him but did it to make him feel good? They did it to please him. See, that’s not how God works at all. There is no understanding of God found through from the scriptures that would say, I can do what’s wrong and please God in so doing. If anyone would have fit that bill, it would have been Paul, would it not have?

4. To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice

Would it not have been the Jews in the first century church? At least they were honest and in many cases sincere in rejecting Christ. No. They rejected the Savior. Saul rejected the commands of the Lord. So when you think about how Samuel is dealing with this person, and you consider the words of verse 19, why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? We have to conclude God expects complete devotion to his will. If we don’t offer that, are we pleasing to God? Well, the question would be: is Saul pleasing to God? And we’ll continue continue reading in verse 20. Saul said to Samuel, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me.

I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and auction, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. And 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 listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. Saul reaped what he sowed. So if we’re going to go out into the world and we’re going to sow any type of violation of God’s law, we should not be surprised when we choose to reject God.

Then when our moment comes, God will reject us. This happened to Saul, the leader of God’s people. It will happen to me as a chosen vessel of God. If I reject the sacrifice of Christ and I don’t choose to obey him. I think it’s important, though, to see in verse 21 and 22 that when Paul, excuse me, when Saul blames the people of Israel, that that’s not good enough. Because what is God’s response? What does God think about the sacrifices? What does God think about the rituals? What’s better to him? The sacrifices that we know he wants? Or the obedience. God chose the obedience. Also, not just obedience, but to listen. God wants our hearts. Do we see that this is Saul’s problem? Yes, it was an obedience problem.

Yes, he missed the commands of God, but he chose not to obey God. It wasn’t a slight, it wasn’t a mistake. He didn’t happen to spare Agag. The people didn’t happen to spare the best of the sheep and the calves. They chose to reject God’s law. I think it’s an important point. Because when we read 1 Samuel chapter 15, this is very obvious. Right? It’s easy. God said, do this, Saul did that, it’s not the same. But you know, I encounter people on a weekly basis who give the idea that as long as you go to a church or you do things that are about 90, 95% accurate, that that’s okay. I want to ask a question. Is that from God? Or is that from men?

That certainly is not what Saul faced here. And sometimes we think, well, that’s really harsh of God. But I ask those of you who are married, who would be happy if your spouse was faithful 90, 95% of the time? Would any one of us say, that’s close enough? No. Why would we think God would expect any different? I think when you see in verse 22 and 23, you see God revealing to man what he desires. I have to reflect on myself this morning at this point in the lesson and think, am I doing what God wants? God has great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices? Not as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Did God have a lot of interest in the fat of the rams?

No. To obey was better than the sacrifice. He wants us to listen. In verse 23, note this though, for rebellion is as the sin of divination. Presumption is as iniquity and idolatry because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. Do you see the two lines of human wisdom shot down? One of them says, you were pretty close. Or we’re doing it for a good reason. God says, no, I want obedience. I want your heart. Then the second thought was, rebellion is as divination? Presumption is as iniquity. Those aren’t the same. Those aren’t equal. What is God doing? How is he punishing Israel when they’re only this bad and people like Amalek are this bad? Is that fair?

Is that just, God? I can tell you, without answering that question, that our God reigns. Our God has expectations for me. And if I don’t fulfill them, I will be faced with the same question that Saul was in verse 19. Why have you rejected the word of the Lord? You see, this is reminiscent of Amos chapter 1. I hope you’ll turn there with me. Look in your Bibles to the book of Amos. And you see in chapter 1, as you go through the prophet, the prophecy of Amos, you see that he goes through all these nations. Turn there, look with me in Amos chapter 1. Note just a sampling of these, beginning in verse 3. Thus says the Lord, for three transgressions of Damascus and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with thrusting sledges of iron.

So I will send fire upon the house of Hazel, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben Hadad. Verse 6, thus says the Lord, for three transgressions of Gaza and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom. Verse 9, for three transgressions of Tyre and for four, I will not revoke punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. Verse 11, for three transgressions of Edom and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity. And his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. In verse 13, you want to know how bad the nations were that God was judging?

Note here. For three transgressions of the Ammonites and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead that they might enlarge their border. God was going to punish each of these people, but then in chapter 2, he comes to his people. And you see in chapter 2, beginning in verse 4. For three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will not revoke the punishment. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord. They have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. Judgment of Israel. For three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted.

And the list continues with Israel. But when it comes to Judah, he’s talked about all these people, all these terrible things they’ve done, all the murder, all the bondage they’ve inflicted on God’s fellow creation. He talks about the people who ripped open the pregnant women. And then he comes after Judah, and they are punished. They are viewed the same. Because they rejected the law of the Lord. Israel, because they didn’t show social justice? Because they didn’t take care of the poor? Those aren’t the same. How is that fair? That’s man talking. God expects, when he gives a law to his people, like with the case of Judah, they uniquely had the law of the Lord. And in verse 4 of chapter 2, they are rejected by God and would be punished because they rejected God’s law.

5. God’s Judgment Is Just and Sure

When you think about that in the context of 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 23 makes a lot more sense. For rebellion is as the sin of divination. Presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Why are those equal? Because they’re a violation and rejection of God. And God wants his people. He wants our hearts. He wants our whole commitment. And Saul had a disregard for God’s ways. So when you think about some lessons we can learn from Saul this morning, do you see that God’s judgment is just and sure? We already read Deuteronomy chapter 25. What was it that happened there? That Amalek was marked for destruction. Were they marked for destruction because God’s mean? Because God’s picking on the people? No. The people were a plague to God’s chosen people.

They were guilty of rejecting God and rejecting his people, and they had blood on their hands. And just because God didn’t come and get them right away does not mean that God wasn’t going to do what he says. It doesn’t mean that God is not just. It means that God views time differently than us. That when God says something, it is sure to come to pass, both in the positive and in the destructive senses. But you see in 2 Peter chapter 3, the modern day application is very clear. Why is God waiting? Why hasn’t God come back? In 2 Peter chapter 3, why is this world still continuing in verse 4 of 2 Peter chapter 3? They will say, Where is the promise of his coming?

For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago. And the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. But do you see verse 9? The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

6. Total Commitment and Obedience, Not a Legalistic Exercise

God is sparing the world so that we will turn to him, turn to God, submit to his will today. Because God’s judgment is both just and sure. If we reject him, we may live a very long and by the standards of this life very happy existence. But God’s judgment is coming. His judgment will be with perfect justice. And we can take it to the bank that God’s word is sure and will come to pass. But consider, secondly, that what we talk about when we say God expects total commitment and obedience. This is not some sort of legalistic exercise. This is not say, okay, I’ve got to make sure that every step I take is in accordance with God’s will, although that’s how we should walk. But what is it that God wanted?

Why was it that he had no mercy on Saul? Well, let’s remember this wasn’t a one-time thing with Saul. Look back in 1 Samuel chapter 13 and verse 14. After his misstep, what was the word to Saul at that point? And 1 Samuel chapter 13 and verse 14. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has set out, sought out a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. When Saul went ahead with the sacrifice, not waiting for Samuel, who of course shortly showed up afterwards. Saul was punished and warned by God, and that punishment was that his kingdom would be taken out of his control.

That Saul would no longer be over his people, but a man after God’s own heart, we know that man. We know the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel would be David. But at this point, Saul has already chosen to reject God’s will. For whatever the cause. Read 1 Samuel chapter 13. See why Saul was motivated to cast aside God’s will. But when I think about what God wants from me, then all of a sudden I’m stuck looking at this, seeing how seriously God considers obedience. And I say, I can’t do that. I can’t be perfect. But the beauty is Jesus died to forgive us of our sins. We are to be raised a new creature. How are we new? Devoted to God’s cause. What does God want from me?

He wants me to be a slave of righteousness. And in so doing, when I consider that man after God’s own heart, I’ll see a taste of how a Christian responds to problems, how a Christian responds to sin. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 7. When you see Paul confronted, when you see Saul confronted, excuse me, by Samuel. He looks at Samuel and his response is, I did what God said. The people grabbed the animals. The people grabbed the animals to sacrifice to God. I did what God wanted. What is David’s reaction when sin is brought before him? When he is called out for his great iniquity with Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel chapter 12, note in verse 7, Nathan, the prophet of God, comes before David and he says, You are the man.

Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul, and I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the Son. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the Son. And when you see in verse thirteen, what is David’s response? David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin, you shall not die. You see what’s different about David, that man after God’s own heart? What’s different is when confronted with sin, David says, I choose God, I realize I have fallen down in serving God.

I must get up and devote my life to his causes. That’s not what Saul did. Saul made excuses. And the truth is going back to the time of Adam and Eve, when they made excuses when they sinned, Adam blamed the woman, the woman blamed the serpent. Those excuses never once worked to make God say, Oh, the people did it. Oh, the woman made you eat. That’s not how God works. But when you see in Luke chapter nine, you see the present day application, this is going to be the last scripture of the lesson. In Luke chapter nine, turn with me to verse 57. When you see in Luke chapter 9, beginning in verse 57, you see that we will reach a crossroads. We will reach a dis a decision to choose to commit to God’s will, or to devote ourselves to our own desires.

In verse 57 of Luke chapter 9, as they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and birds of the airs have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Through neather he said, Follow me, but he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my Father. And Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

And I have to give myself a fitness test this morning. Am I ready? Am I fit for the kingdom of God? How would I know? Not because I can check every box and I can read every command of God and I can say, I’m doing this, I’ve done that, I’ll get on this, I’ve done that. But I will be devoted because my heart is changed. Because I know what Jesus did for me. Because I will be different than the old man of sin. I will not be like the world. I will not compromise. I will say, thy will be done. And that changes my life, and it directs my life all the way until I can be with my God forevermore. Don’t we have a wonderful life as Christians?

If we do, let’s live like Christians. Let’s devote ourselves to God. What does God want from me? He wants my heart. He wants my commitment. Be God’s child today. If we can help you this morning, realize that without God, we don’t have that hope. That like Saul, we will face God, and the words may come down, why have you rejected me? Read the will of the Lord. Do what he says. Trust in Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Be baptized. Have your sins forgiven. If we can help you in any way, come forward now as we stand and sing the invitation song.