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Bowing before Samuel while practicing witchcraft

When Saul grew increasingly uneasy about God's silence towards him, he tried to force the issue by visiting the witch of Endor to obtain a visit from the deceased prophet Samuel.

Saul knew that visiting a witch was contrary to God's commandments, and the witch knew it, too. She asked him to promise to spare her life, since he had decreed that all caught witches would be killed.

When Samuel appeared to Saul, Saul bowed himself in reverence. Let us appreciate how ridiculous this was. Saul's reverence to Samuel was due to his knowledge that Samuel was a servant of God. He bowed to him in the midst of a chain of knowingly disobedient acts: he already knew what God wasn't speaking to him, as he had plainly been told the ways in which he was disobeying God. For example, he knew God had proclaimed that David would be king and had not only actively fought this outcome, but tried to kill David repeatedly. He knew that witchcraft was contrary to God's law, yet here he was visiting a witch. And yet he had the audacity to pretend to care about Samuel's service to God.

Samuel had previously told Saul that God wanted obedience, not sacrifice. Yet, here he was, once again trying to make up for repeated willful disobedience to God with occasional reaching out to God.

As ridiculous as this seems, if you honestly examine your life, you might find examples of the same. 

Here are two specific examples that are more common than they should be. They are not the only ones:

1) A person who continues viewing porn, yet has the audacity to seek a closer relationship with God through other things.

2) A person who refuses to love and serve their spouse, yet has the audacity to seek a closer relationship with God through other things.

No matter what the "other things" are, realize that the greatest thing you can do to honor and revere and worship God is to obey what he has already told you. When you do, the opportunity for "other things" will always come.

These examples will no doubt offend those guilty of them or something close to them. Don't be offended. If they apply to you, be grateful for yet another opportunity to repent. If they don't, why care?

Even after so many transgressions, Saul could have preserved the life of himself and his children--and more importantly, his spiritual state--through immediately abdicating the throne and serving David with all his heart. Instead, he marched headlong into the destruction of both soul and body. Don't do the same.

While you are in active rebellion toward God, do not pretend to worship him. You are only mocking him. 

Worship God in spirit and in truth. Glorify him by fighting the fight to reconcile your will to his in what he has already told you before looking beyond the mark towards something new.