King Saul disobeyed God’s command to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Rather, he spared the best of the sheep and oxen, including the king. I Samuel 15:9 says, “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed” (I Samuel 15:9 NIV).
The word spare in the original means pity or compassion.
There are things God has asked us to not spare because of its long standing history of destruction it causes not just to ourselves but to our relationships. As believers, God is doing a deep work of sanctification by setting us apart from the way the world lives and behaves. Whatever God is asking us to separate ourselves from or let go we are not to give way to pity or compassion, but obey God.
King Saul reasoned away why he disobeyed. He said it was the prevailing voice of the people (peer pressure) and beside the best sheep and oxen was spared for sacrifice. After all the animals would be offered up to God! Certain, He will be pleased! Of course, it doesn’t answer why King Agag was spared other than to be Saul’s war trophy.
Disobedience is easy when we spin our own deceptive reasoning and give sin another name!
When we remember the destruction something has caused in our lives, we will not have pity on it but are more willing to see it destroyed. Saul forgot what the Amalekites did to the Israelites who were weary and worn out on their wilderness journey (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
Saul’s disobedience had far reaching consequences. Later we read of Haman in the book of Esther who wanted to destroy the Jews. Haman was a descendant of Agag (Esther 9:24).
When we spare sin in our lives we reserve an enemy in the future.
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