Selective Spirituality

1 Samuel 15:13-23 (NIV)
¹³ When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
¹⁴ But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
¹⁵ Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
¹⁶ "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied.
¹⁷ Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
¹⁸ And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.'
¹⁹ Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"
²⁰ "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.
²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
²² But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

I don't like this story...it bothers me on multiple levels.  It strikes me at the core of my own faith, service to God (or at least attempted service), and this area of obedience.  See, like most Christians I have times of "selectivity" in listening and obeying.  I wished I could say it were not so, but I know the truth, so I'll be honest about it.

The question is "why"?  Why do we fall into this syndrome of selective spirituality?
Part of the answer is that we're simply not perfect beings.  The Psalmist says something very comforting to us:
Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV)
¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

He knows we are dust.  He knows us!
The question then becomes, "Do we know ourselves?"

First of all, we are made in the image of God...all of us, every human being.  We are not merely robots that respond to commands instantly; nor are we non-thinking, non-choosing machines.  We are people whom God has deposited various components of who we are.
We are physical beings
We are emotional beings
We are social beings
We are intellectual beings
We are spiritual beings.

God has put within us the ability to make choices on a number of different levels - often in combination within us.

This selectivity is understood on one level - we're human.
But on another level this selectivity shows that we've not paid attention to all that God has deposited within us.
Point blank...I say I trust, but that trust must not be on principles, or commands, or ideas; but that trust must be in a Person.

When you trust the Person - God - you don't have to live selectively, you can choose Him each time.
Saul doesn't have to be within us.
We can stop rationalizing, stop arguing, stop compromising the very person we trust in.
We can put our faith into the practical area of choice, and say "I'd rather do what I know is right before you God, because I know you are truth."

Peace