[Saul] has set
up a monument in his own honor (1 Samuel 15:12).
You know the old
saying: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”? Maybe that’s what happened to Saul; I don’t know, but something
changed. More than one biblical scholar has suggested Saul was mentally
unstable – no big surprise there, but it probably doesn’t figure in our case
study for today.
When he was first
anointed by Samuel, he seemed to have been God’s man for the job, but over time
something happened. In the beginning he was humble and even a little shy. When
they looked for [Saul], he had disappeared. So they asked the Lord, “Where is
he?” And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage” (NIV 1984, 1
Samuel 10:21,22).
After rescuing the
people of Jabesh Gilead, and celebrating victories over the Philistines (due to
Jonathan’s heroic and unexpected attack) and the Amalekites, this once humble
man started to believe his own press, and even dedicated a statue to himself.
How does he
has hidden himself among the baggage become he has set up a monument in his own honor?
What is it about
success that changes a person? Is it the financial reward? Is it the acclaim?
Must accomplishment inevitably bring a sense of entitlement? Is this kind of thing
always connected to power and privilege? Could this happen to us?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Acknowledging that God knows
you better than anyone, from what pitfalls of success might he be protecting
you?
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