When you fall sick and go to a clinic to seek medical care, the doctor sometimes prescribes medicines for you to take. If you follow the prescription properly, more often than not you get better. But if you fail to follow instructions and take your meds inconsistently, you risk developing resistance and the next time you fall sick, the drugs won’t really work.
In 1st Samuel 15; Samuel gave clear instructions to Saul. He was to totally destroy the Amalekites. Man, woman, child, and their dog; he was to annihilate every single one of them and everything they owned. Why did God ask for this? In Deuteronomy 25:17-18 the Amalekites had attacked some Israelites who after escaping Egypt, were lagging behind the rest carrying loot from Egypt.
But Saul obeyed 99%. He killed everything except the Amalekite king – Agag.
There is a saying that goes, there are four types of people. The man who knows and is aware he knows; consult him. The man who knows but is unsure he knows; remind him. The man who doesn’t know but wants to learn; teach him. The man who doesn’t know but pretends he knows; he is a fool.
Saul was a fool who pretended he knew better than God. Because he didn’t obey God fully, God rejected him as king.
Christians sometimes obey God partly. While still insisting we are Christians, we refuse to surrender something to God. That thing may be our career, our money, a certain lifestyle, a relationship, etc. Like Saul, we spare our ‘Agag’. If we don’t obey fully, the partial obedience is dismissed by God as disobedience. 1 John 2:3-6 says We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Full obedience means:
(i) Submitting fully
(ii) Demonstrating love for Him
(iii) Walking like Christ
Your miracle is on the other side of your obedience. Obedience is the channel through which God will bless you. Purpose to have an obey God this week, won’t you?