The Unfolding Saga Of Our Hearts

Our goal is not to be less self-exalting, self-righteous, or self-preserving, but to follow more closely to Jesus.   ~~~   So what are we to do with all of this that we have seen in 1 Samuel 14—fear, self exaltation, self-righteousness, self-preservation? Is the lesson, the truth here that if we want to be good leaders then we should not be self-exalting, self-promoting, and self-preserving? No. Believe it or not that is not the lesson at all. The question is, “Who can secure and lead the people of God and bring the kingdom of God to flourish?” And the answer that we are going to be given is, King David! But even that is a short-lived, unsatisfying answer, because even in David we see self-preservation, and his great need for repentance. And so as we read this unfolding saga, our hearts are taken on this journey longing for a king. We are looking and seeking a king. And if you have read through the Old Testament, you definitely know that that list of names of kings is lacking severely in presenting us with a suitable King. But then we come to Jesus. Jesus was motivated by the glory of God, not the glory of self-exaltation. Jesus was motivated by love for God, not love for appearing a certain way to a certain crowd. Jesus was motivated by his desire to rejoin God and be in His presence, not run from mission, and in order to do that, Jesus did not avoid blame, but took on blame that was not His own. Jesus didn’t desire to be ransomed by the people of God, but rather was the ransom price for the people of God. The lesson of the text is not that we need to be less like Saul, but rather, that if we are honest, we are just like Saul and we are bad kings. Our churches are weakened when led by self-exalting men like Saul. Our families are weakened when led by self-righteous pricks; We are not good kings; we need a different type King to reign over us. And this King is Jesus. So the goal is not to be less self-exalting, less self-righteous, less self-preserving, but rather, to follow and cling more closely to Jesus, who will bring humility and sacrifice into and through your life day by day.