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Rebellion
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:23).
This statement may seem hard to us, but it is God who is speaking. He had told Samuel to reprimand King Saul with these words. Saul himself considered it severe judgment, and with a superficial request asked to be pardoned for his sin. But God no longer could tolerate him as king of Israel.
We all tend to make our own assessments of the severity of sins. We talk about greater and lesser sins. However, God’s perspective is very different. It has been said that one of the greater sins consists of not giving up lesser sins.
The above verse demonstrates precisely that. God understands the motive behind our actions. If we ignore Him and His rights in self-will, then that is sin … it is rebellion. Of course, there are differences in the measure of guilt or the character of sin. If we have never fallen into coarse, degrading sins, we should be sincerely thankful. However, the essential thing about our relationship to God is whether we seek to do His will or not. Can we truly say, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8)?
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