1 Samuel 28:3-7, 15-18 – Reaping what We Sow
Do you see what’s happening in this chapter? God had spoken to Saul in chapter 15, and Saul didn’t want to listen. God told Saul what to do, and he wouldn’t do it. God gave guidance, and Saul didn’t want to follow it. Saul is reaping what he had sown – he had ruled as if God was silent, and now God is silent.
Saul stands as a sobering warning to us of the fearsome wrath of God against persistent sinners. He is very patient with unrepentant sinners, but not indefinitely. He is also just and must call us to account; he must be consistent and do what he has promised to do. He leaves the door into his Kingdom open for a long time, but it will eventually be shut. If you have spent your life telling God that you don’t want to hear from him, you may find that he won’t speak to you when you realise your need. When trouble comes there may be no answer. A persistently refusing heart is a hardening heart, and there comes a point where God withdraws the opportunity for forgiveness.
We see it in Jesus’ instructions to the 12 apostles when he sent them out in Matthew 10:14-15: “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” John Bunyan pictured it in Pilgrim’s Progress as a man locked in an iron cage weeping, “I have so hardened my heart that I cannot repent.”
The opportunity passed for Saul. Is that a danger you face? Have you heard the message, but you are stopping your ears? Are you acting the part and answering the right questions, but have no heart-love for Christ? If you persistently refuse to listen to God, he will stop speaking to you. We reap what we sow. The day for repentance and obedience is today.
Questions
- Has God been speaking to you for a long time about a particular sin?
Prayer Points
- Ask God for a heart that is soft to his Word.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.