Encouragement for Today

"Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, but Samuel said, 'What is this you have done?'

Saul replied, 'I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn't arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. So I said, "The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven't even asked for the LORD's help!" So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.'

'How foolish!' Samuel exclaimed. 'You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. Had you kept it, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.'"

1 Samuel 13:10–13

Encouragement for Today

Saul's reasoning made a lot of sense—if you only look at circumstances and depend on reasoning alone. Saul's mistake was to leave God out of the equation and take things into his own hands. Though he thought he was seeking the Lord, he was ignoring the guidance he'd already gotten. How might you be disregarding the guidance God has already given you, perhaps through his Word, and depending instead on reasoning and/or seeking fresh revelation?
—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions