Corona Devo 616
Sometimes we make things harder than they need to be, especially when it comes to "religion". We set up gauntlets that we think God wants us to run, or maybe we don't even know God all that well. We just "think" that living our faith should be painful, limiting, or at the very least it should emaciate our fun.
But have we asked God?
Connecting with and pleasing the Lord is not an act of muscle or will. It is not birthed through forced routines or obligatory sacrifices. None of that comes from a heart that is rooted in God or in relationship with Jesus, His Son. All of our efforts that are launched in our will instead of God's will fall short in pleasing Him. And if we aren't careful, we will drag others down with us along the way.
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Saul had seen what Godly men "did", but he would not spend-the-time or allow-for-the-submission-of-heart to become a man of God, and so his efforts were rigid and empty, and failed to bring God glory. And in today's story, we will see how Saul's faulty religious "tests" also brought down the men in his army.
Saul's troops had been in battle for days. God had brought a victory, thanks to Jonathan, Saul's son, who had advanced an attack in full faith in the Lord. But the troops were exhausted and starving from days of combat. They needed to eat, and the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
(25) The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. (26) When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.
(27) But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. (28) Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.”
(29) “My father has made trouble for us all!” Jonathan exclaimed. “A command like that only hurts us. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. (30) How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?” ~I Samuel 14:24-30
Jonathan was right and Saul's "oath" had been wrong. That oath of abstaining from food that day did not come from God--and if we make our own vain attempts at wanting to declare a penance on ourselves or others, it will do us no good and draws us no nearer to God.
Plus, if we make our own mandates instead of following the Lord's, it can cause trouble we hadn't even intended.
Because the Israelite army was starving, they broke sacred food laws forbidding them to eat meat with the blood still in it.
They chased and killed the Philistines all day...growing more and more faint. (32) That evening they rushed for the battle plunder and butchered the sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, but they ate them without draining the blood. (33) Someone reported to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that still has blood in it.”
“That is very wrong,” Saul said.... ~I Samuel 14:31-35
At least Saul realized that something was wrong! He still hadn't owned the fact that his ridiculous fasting-oath had driven his men to butchering and eating raw meat, but he did realize that his troops had broken a law: “Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood... (14) “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.” ~Leviticus 17:13-14
But once Saul put a stop to this, he tried to push his troops back onto the battlefield to keep fighting/pursuing their enemies throughout the night.
(I am feeling exhausted and hungry on behalf of Saul's army!)
Luckily one of Saul's priests said, “Let us inquire of God here.”.
(37) So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day. ~I Samuel 14:36-37
God doesn't have to answer anyone that He doesn't want to, and Saul wasn't exactly coming to the Lord with a submissive heart. It was more of an obligation "because the priest said" to inquire of God.
How are we coming to God when asking for His direction today?
And...have we asked God?
Or are we forcing religious routines and symbolic "fasts" in our lives in order to appear faithful or to "play the part" of seeking God's will?
Unless we hear from the Lord in directing our steps, then the effects are merely a show, and they will lack any depth or power.
And God has power for us, but we must be willing to "reach out the end of our staff...and dip it into the honeycomb" today. Following God is not torture, self-flaggelation and starving ourselves of all pleasure. God is with us in the trials but He also is right there in our triumphs too. He created the "honeycombs" of life, and He delights when we taste of Him and our eyes brighten. (I Samuel 14:27).
Today, may we be encouraged to spend the time and allow-for-the-submission-of-heart to become men and women of God, so that our efforts are not rigid and empty, but rather that they will bring God glory.
Blessings,
sarah
https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com
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