Message
Amongst the people you find in church, some are unto honour while others are unto dishonour, as we see in :
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
God, however, is not the One who makes some vessels unto honour and others unto dishonour. Rather, people, based on their behaviour toward God and His instructions, choose for themselves if they will be unto honour or unto dishonour.
There are many people who say that since God is merciful, and His mercies are new every morning (), they can commit sin multiple times and ask Him for mercy multiple times. Therefore, they commit sin purposely, trusting that when they ask for mercy, God will have mercy. Some even say things like, “God, forgive me for what I am about to say.” They know it is a sin, but they ask for forgiveness and go ahead to say it. People like this are trying to make a fool out of the Most High God and will become vessels unto dishonour if they do not repent. The wages of sin is death (). Even if a Christian gives a big sacrifice or worships God deeply, if his or her heart is still in a sinful state, the wages of sin remain death.
In today's Bible reading, God told Saul to kill all the Amalekites, but he decided to play on God's intelligence by saying that it was the people who brought the king of Amalek and the choice animals back with them to Israel. We see the result of the disobedience in :
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.
Saul begged Samuel to let him worship God, but it was not out of true repentance. He only did that because he did not want to be embarrassed in the presence of his followers. In the next chapter, you will see that as much as Samuel pleaded on his behalf, God still asked him to anoint a new king as his replacement. God later sent an evil spirit to torment Saul, as he had become a vessel unto dishonour.
Beloved, be careful. Don't toy with sin, and don't try to play on God's intelligence so that you don't end up like Saul.