“Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ … So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed” (1 Sam 15:2-3, 7-9).
As brand new parents who were desperately trying to bring our rebellious three-year old daughter under the umbrella of delegated authority (see Exod 20:12), we were using our most sophisticated negotiation tactics. The count down for obedience would begin. “If you don’t do what we say by the time we count to ten, you’ll be in big trouble. One, two, three….” And then a very wise instructor shared with us some invaluable biblical wisdom. “Delayed obedience is disobedience.” Although we meant well, we were actually teaching our daughter it was okay to put off obedience to God, that it was okay to negotiate with him about keeping his commandments. As parents who wanted to teach our daughter about God’s total authority over our lives, we were unintentionally sending our daughter the completely wrong message.
God did not applaud Saul’s partial obedience. He treated it for what it was: disobedience (1 Sam 15:10-11). May God give us a far deeper understanding of his sovereign authority and eternal kingship over our lives so that we will have a godly passion to obey his commands. And may the intrinsic motivation that flows from the grace of the gospel and the power of the Spirit be ours in abundance, not just that we will obey immediately, but that we will obey willingly and out of the sheer desire to please our heavenly Father.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him” (John 14:15-21).
