Hanging With Him

The LORD said to Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the LORD all night.

1 Samuel 15:10-11

I read this portion from God’s Word, and a big road sign flashes across my mind: a circle with the words “Disloyal to God” in black letters with a big red diagonal line running through them.

I don’t ever want to be disloyal to God. I am hanging with Him no matter what. King Saul was sinfully disloyal to God, insisting on his own battle plan against the Amalekites instead of what God had asked him to do. When King Saul made an excuse for his actions, the prophet Samuel, God’s mouthpiece to the people, rebuked him with a question (15:22): “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.”

There is so much practical application in these Bible stories for everyone. Not only can we recognize ourselves in them and repent for our disobedience, but most of all, we can see God’s heart. His heart cares about our heart’s loyalty to Him. His heart wants to grow ours to beat like His, to love His ways. We can sacrifice our bodies, time, and treasures to all kinds of good causes, but God delights in us when we “hang with Him,” obeying His commands. I have never had a fun, good time when I wasn’t following His commands. The life of Saul serves as an example of how God wants us to learn about the value of obeying Him.

He gave us everything we need to live by in Christ. Like one of my favorite hymns says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Christ never leaves us, so hang with Him in loyal obedience. Believers in Christ should always be the ones who exude the most joy and have the most fun! If not, we should evaluate who we’re hanging with.