The Devil’s Doorway

Series: Beware of the Little Things
8/25/13
There's an old song, much before my time, titled “You Don’t Own Me,” and some of the lyrics of the songs say: “I am young, and I love to be young. I'm free and I love to be free. To live my life the way I want, To say and do whatever I please. So don't tell me what to do, Oh don't tell me what to say.” The words of that song express a universal sentiment that resides within every human being.

There was someone in the pages of Scripture that wanted to do as he pleased, and he soon found that there were serious consequences for his self-willed choices. Saul had a reputation of rebelling against God by doing his own thing, making his own rules, and worshiping the way he wanted to. But in 1 Samuel 15, his rebellion reached its climax, and Saul was rejected by God, the kingdom was torn from him, and virtually his entire family would be killed, leaving no one to sit upon the throne. What Saul thought was no big deal, was the most serious of sins in God’s eyes.

Verse 23 identifies for us one of those seemingly “small” foxes, in our eyes, that ruins the vine - it is the sin of rebellion. Samuel told Saul that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft… a sin so terrible that it was punishable by death in the Old Testament (Lev. 20:27). Saul is not the only one who is guilty of rebellion. Many Christians today are guilty of the same thing, and like Saul, they often do not even realize it. Today let’s learn from Saul so that we do not repeat his mistakes in our life. Let’s consider the nature of rebellion and how to avoid it.