by Steve Preston

"In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6, 21:25).

Generally speaking, a people left to themselves will become corrupt. Without accepting divine guidance, a society falls into moral decay. Sometimes even with leadership a civilization can become rebellious and turn against the Father of us all.

One would think then that a man especially chosen by God to lead the nation of Israel would be a source of spiritual strength to the people he leads. As it turns out, the first man chosen to be king over Israel "did that which was right in his own eyes" and caused Jehovah God to say, "It repenteth me that I have set [him] to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments" (1 Samuel 15:11).

Saul, the son of Kish, was made the first king over Israel (1 Samuel 11:15). After the prophet Samuel anointed him, Saul was told to "go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" (1 Samuel 15:3).

Because Amalek fought against Israel as they left Egypt (Exodus 17:8-13), God decreed that nation should be destroyed, hence the instructions to Saul. Everyone and everything pertaining to Amalek was to be destroyed.

The instructions were simple and specific. For someone to misinterpret what God wanted done to the Amalekites is hard to fathom. Saul, however, apparently did not understand. For instead of destroying everything pertaining to the Amalekites as God instructed, Saul "spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them" (1 Samuel 15:9).

What was Saul thinking? Did he not think that God actually meant for him to destroy everything? Even when he was confronted later by Samuel, Saul still claimed he had "obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites" (1 Samuel 15:19,20).

Notice that Saul claimed to have done what Jehovah had asked of him while at the same time declaring that the Amalekite king Agag had been spared. What was he thinking?

What are we thinking when we sin? God has given us specific instructions to "put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5).

More than once, God has told us to do only what we have been commanded to do (Deuteronomy 5:32, 17:20, 28:14; Colossians 3:17; Galatians 1:5-9). What are we thinking when we presume that something we like in worship will be acceptable to God? What are we thinking when we compromise our faith in order to "fit in" (Galatians 2:11-14). God's children need to think as Paul did and "have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Only when we do that, conform to Christ, will we be thinking the right thing.

Steve moderates the Bible Talk list, from which this article was taken, with his permission. www.topica.com/lists/list_BibleTalk