15 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a
day before Saul came, saying,
16 To morrow
about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou
shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my
people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people,
because their cry is come unto me.
17 And when
Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said
unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my
people.
18 Then Saul
drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the
seer's house is.
19 And
Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high
place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and
will tell thee all that is in thine heart.
20 And as
for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for
they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and
on all thy father's house? 1Sam.9:15-20
The story of
Saul in ISam.9:15-20 could best describe the matter of qualification to dine
with the Lord. In that passage we can see three qualifications to dine with God
as:
a. Invitation
b. Acceptance
c. Preparation.
It happened
at a time Saul was troubled for his father’s asses that were lost three days
earlier. What preoccupied his mind was how the lost asses were going to be
recovered. Yet it was not difficult for him to respond to an invitation coming
less than twenty four hours to the event. In verse nineteen we saw how he was
invited and he accepted the invitation without any quarry.
God does not
call any kind of person. There is something that qualifies you for the
invitation. If the governor of your state wants to host a dinner, I do not
think he would invite everybody. I am sure he will generate a list of invitees
and send to his event planners, which will then ensure the invites gets to the
names on the list.
What is the
significance of this to our discussion? It means the celebrant has his circle
of friends, associates and loved ones who are dear to him. Those are the people
whose names will appear on his guest’s lists.
May I say
this, for God to invite you to dine with Him; it means you are dear to Him. You
are important to Him. He loves you. He cares for you. He want the best for you.
He is concern about your joy, peace, and harmony. The moment you realize this
the better!
So Saul was
invited and he did not decline, but accepted the invitation. Please notice
again in verse 20, here the Lord quickly addresses the topmost matter in the heart
of Saul. The main reason why he was out roaming about in the first place was
addressed. And I say to you, whatever asses that you have lost three days,
years, decades, they are found. Do not put your mind on them. Do not put your
mind on the lost employment you are looking for, do not put mind on the
contract, husband, wife, health, because those things have been found. Praise
God!
However
there is something more important than those things you are looking for. There
is an event that will change everything about a man. Saul was not prepared for
the event that was going to change his life and family, and he paid dearly for
it.
Purpose of the Dinner
And as they were going down to the end of the
city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed
on), but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.
1Sam.9:27
There is
just one purpose why God have to take Saul through that singular experience –
to show him His word.
His weakness
Saul does
not ask question. They brought three kids, three loaves of bread, and a bottle
of wine before him but only gave him two loaves of bread and he was satisfied.
That was too bad!
The things
he did not collect were the things he later lost in his life. What is the
significance of the things he did not collect?
Kids –
Fruitfulness (Saul lost his children to his enemies)
Bread –
Provision
Wine – the
Spirit of God
Saul
collected part of the bread and was satisfied. He did not even collect all the
bread before he gave up. He was satisfied with little. Your life should not be
centered only on bread. There are better things on the table of the Lord.
Collect kids, collect bottles of wine, and do not allow anything to escape your
hand. Do not be table shy!
Saul did not
collect wine. No wonder he lost the spirit of God! When a man loses the Spirit
of God he has lost all. All these things happened to Saul because he did not
prepare for the event that was going to change his Destiny!
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