By Olubunmi Adebayo
*Today we shall be concluding our discussion on the need to avoid any sense of entitlement as seen yesterday in the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, the great King of Babylon.*
*Again, if I may ask you this question :*
*”what do you think was the greatest challenge of Saul, the first king of Israel?”*
*Please permit me to say that it was his _sense of self entitlement_.*
*Just imagine the following scenarios as they played out :*
*A) Saul was not expected to perform sacrifice unto God because he was not a priest, but out of impatience, he went ahead to offer one. This was because he felt as the sitting king of Israel he could act since the priest who should do this assignment delayed in coming to the war front.*
*B) When he was corrected for his wrong action by Samuel the prophet, he said the people mounted pressures on him, and were going away and he therefore needed to so act.*
*C) Again when God directed him (King Saul) to go and destroy the Amalekites for their evil deeds against Israel on their way from Egypt. As king, Saul spared Agag king of the Amalekites and some of the chief flocks. When Samuel heard this, he again blamed Saul, and the following transpired between them :*
*1 Samuel 15:*
*[25] Now therefore, I pray thee (King Saul speaking), pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.*
*[26] And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.*
*[27] And as Samuel turned about to go away, he (Saul) laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.*
*[28]And Samuel said unto him, “The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.”*
*Nothing but a sense of entitlement would have compelled a man to demand that the prophet should necessarily worship God with him to save his face before the people.*
*King Saul acted as a man of self importance before God, refusing to focus on the corrections and chastisement from The Lord, BUT ON his position as king.*
*This behaviour ultimately forced Saul and his descendants to lose out in the kingship line of Israel.*
*For the position you occupy, for your attainment in life, for what you have achieved, please beware of that sense of self entitlement you may be nursing. It is a destroyer.*
Please remember Daddy E A Adeboye in your prayers as he marks his 84th birthday today
©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo
