Did A Foolish Thing?

YOU DID A FOOLISH THING," SAMUEL TOLD SAUL. "YOU DIDN'T FOLLOW THE COMMAND OF THE LORD YOUR GOD. If you had, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel permanently. 1 Samuel 13:13.

One of the reasons why you and I disobey God is that we don’t think of the consequences of disobedience. When we were children, our parents used to tell us, “If you do that, you will get a beating!” Most of us obeyed because we feared the caning. The naughty ones tried their luck and disobeyed. But when they received their punishment, they realised their foolishness.

However, God doesn’t execute judgment immediately when we disobey Him. But, He has reserved punishment for the judgment day. This has created in you and I the feeling that however much we disobey God, there will be no punishment. We feel that we can go against God’s law with impunity. We think that our God is a forgiving God and He will not punish us.

Read how the LORD revealed Himself to Moses. “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (Exo 34.6,7).

We have a God who is good and loving. Listen to what He says about how He deals with our sins. “He forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin”. Thank God, He does not hold it against us forever. But He also said, “He does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation”. It simply means that God will not hold against us our sins forever, if we have asked for His forgiveness. He will not even remember them any more (Heb 8.12). But because He is a just God, He said that He will not leave the guilty unpunished. This punishment or consequences of our sin will dog us in this life though not in the life to come, for we are forgiven! The tragedy is that the punishment extends to “the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation”.

It is a serious thing to sin against the Lord. Many of us ‘flirt’ with sin, thinking that we can ask forgiveness and the Lord will ‘wink an eye!’ The story of King Saul’s disobedience to God brings out the tragedy of disobedience. Samuel told Saul. "You did a foolish thing. You didn't follow the command of the LORD your God. If you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel permanently. But now your kingdom will not last”.

Dear friend, that is what happens when you sin. You become foolish. You forget that sin has dire consequences here on earth even when you are forgiven. You do not remember that it could affect your generations to come! When you seek genuine pardon, God forgives! But beware! God being just, does not take away the consequences of sin to us and to others!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, often I am so foolish and disobey Your laws, forgetting the consequences to me and to others. Give me wisdom to be like Joseph and Daniel and the determination to obey You at all cost. Amen.