GOD’S COMMANDS NEED NO EDITING!

 

Editing is preparing a document for publication by correcting, rewriting, or updating it. Writers and authors know the benefits of editing; after reading one's own work repeatedly, mistakes can still be missed. A fresh pair of eyes catch overlooked errors, thus making the document more polished. Editing can sometimes alter the author's intended message, however.

There are many instances when, knowingly or unknowingly, we edit God's commands. We do this by misinterpreting what God says; we pick orders apart, take the pieces that appeal to us, and ignore what we find non-palatable. Both Christians and unbelievers are guilty of tampering with God's instructions.

We can find an excellent example of this behavior in the Book of First Samuel. God commanded Saul through Samuel: "I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys" (1 Samuel 15:2-3). King Saul led his army of 210, 000 soldiers to go and carry out God's command.

Nothing should have gone wrong with such precise instruction, but something did. "Saul and his men spared king Agag's life and the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality" (1 Samuel 15:9).

What didn't Saul understand about the word ENTIRE? When he met Samuel on his return from the campaign, he said, "I have carried out the Lord's command!" (Verse 13). When confronted with the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle, he explained: "The army indeed spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle. But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else" (verse 15). God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He did not need the Amalekites' cattle; he wanted them destroyed, period!

Samuel's rebuke went like this: "What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams" Verse 22). Let's learn a lesson from that.

Needless to say, God was heartbroken about Saul's disobedience; He rejected Saul as king. Later, the kingdom was transferred from Saul's family to David and his descendants.

How did Saul think he had obeyed God when he didn't destroy everything? It's sad, but we sometimes fall into the same trap. For instance, when we know God wants us to take action about something, we put it off, sometimes indefinitely. When we finally get around to doing it, we convince ourselves that we have obeyed Him. We must obey God promptly every time; His command should precede everything else.

It's not enough to say we love the Lord; we should honor and obey Him as proof of that love. Although He doesn't have to reward our obedience, He often does. In the book of Malachi, the Lord confronted the Israelite priests (and us) about bringing Him unworthy sacrifices: "A Son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? (Malachi 1:6).

Let's be careful how we live our Christian lives; God is watching! He will reward or rebuke us accordingly!