One of today's scripture readings is from chapter 15 of 1 Samuel. It's where Samuel tells Saul what the Lord wants him to do and then Saul goes and does it but puts his own spin on it. When Samuel confronts him about it, Saul says he and his men kept the best animals from those that belonged to the Amalekites so they could sacrifice them to the Lord.
Samuel says "Has the Lord as great delight in burt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of he Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."
When do we try to do something similar to what Saul did?
I think it's when we go to church but don't give to support it. Or when we go to church but don't get active in its upkeep. But most of all I think our actions are most similar to Saul's when we do all of those things and still don't act in sync with our faith every single day.
The biggest challenge we have is living in accordance with the 2 Great Commandments -- Loving the Lord with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength, and all our soul; and loving our neighbors as our selves.
We get so caught up in dealing with our financial issues, our job issues, and other problems we face and we don't treat our neighbors (particularly those we work with) with respect, kindness, and compassion (which is what the Good Samaritan showed the wounded traveler).
What can you do today to be more loving towards those you work with? And not just with those you like but with those who you really aren't too crazy about.
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