When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
1 Samuel 15:13-15
The frustrating thing about pretending to be something you aren't is that the evidence of who you truly are is all around you. It cries out against you to betray you like the bleating of these sheep. That's the problem with being a hypocrite or of pretending to follow God when you really aren't, is that everyone around you can see how you are really living your life.
What sound or evidence cries out against you and threatens to reveal the truth about who you really are? Your internet search history? Your Netflix watch history? Your credit card history? Or your social media activity? No one can hide the truth about themselves forever. It always comes out in the end.
But somehow we always fool ourselves into thinking we will get away with it. No other creature on earth is as skilled in self-deception as man. Even a dog that convinces himself he is chasing something other than his own tail, yelps in pain and admits he was wrong when he finally catches his tail and bites down hard on it. But not man. People will lie to themselves and go one refusing to admit their mistakes long after everyone else knows they were wrong.
That's what Saul did. He refused to admit his sin. He tried to shift the blame onto his own soldiers. He even tried to claim he disobeyed God in order to worship Him! When all along, he ought to have been honest with himself, admitted his sin and asked God for forgiveness.
Are you deceiving yourself this morning? Are you shifting the blame? You would be far better off just admitting your sin and seeking God's forgiveness.
No comments:
Post a Comment