Selected Obedience
1 Samuel 15:18-21 (NLT) “And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ 19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?” 20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. 21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
The story of King Saul, who was the first King of Israel, is not a short read. 1 Samuel 15 explains something very important about why God was so disappointed with King Saul. God used the prophet Samuel to tell Saul what He wanted him to do regarding King Agag and the Amalekites. The problem is that King Saul deviated from what God told him to do. God told Saul to destroy the entire Amalekite nation because of their sin, and all the livestock. No living soul was to be left alive. But Saul did part of God’s command and followed his own idea. Instead of killing all the cattle, he spared enough to use for sacrifice, rather than his own cattle. And he also spared King Agag.
How many people have done the same thing regarding God’s commandments and His Word? Some people accept parts of the Bible only to fit their lifestyle. If you try to tell them the other parts that God says, you are now in the domain of preaching hate speech. Many churches today exist based on some things they accept in the Bible and other parts they reject. Even King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife. So, he went to the Roman Catholic Pope to ask for permission. The Pope said no. Out of anger, King Henry VIII said, “Fine. I’ll start my own church!” In 1534, the Act of Supremacy declared King Henry the supreme head of the Church of England, formalizing independence from Rome and the Catholic Church.
Here are some dangerous questions to ask. Are you accepting parts of the Bible to fit your lifestyle while rejecting the rest? Are you hanging on to things you don’t want to let go of, even though they’re clearly wrong in the Bible? To go further, are you claiming you are fully innocent and obedient to the Lord without even asking the Holy Spirit if something is lingering around that you won’t let go of? The Bible says we must die daily. (1 Corinthians 15:31) Meaning, we must put down our pride and the things we want so we can be fully available to serve God.
Romans 6:12,13 (NLT): “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.”
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is not right in your life. Don’t be a selective-obedience Christian. Remember, God will never ask you to do something without giving you the ability to do it.
Be Blessed!
Ron
Ron Cobbs Ministries © Copyright November 5th, 2026, All Rights Reserved