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Discipleship Focus: Appetite
- Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled. When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus. But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.
As we finish this chapter and look at the death of Saul, I can’t
help but see Saul’s life through the lens of appetite. Saul sought his own desires. Saul sought to feed his own inner
passions. Saul wanted to make sure that
his own needs were met well before taking into account the needs of anyone else
– especially God’s need.
Think about the kingdom.
Wasn’t one of the main differences between Saul and Jonathon the fact that
Saul wanted to perpetuate his own lineage whereas his son Jonathon was able to accept
that David was God’s anointed one? Saul’s
appetite was for his kingdom, his reign, his reputation.
Or think about what we know of Saul’s military pursuits at the end
of his life. It is David who has to save
the Hebrew people from the Philistines and other Canaanites! Saul is too busy chasing after David to do the
job that he should be doing as king and protecting the nation. Saul’s appetite for getting his own way –
call it revenge, call it glory seeking, whatever – led Saul away from walking
in the will of God.
Saul is a tragic story. He
is a great study in how someone can look so promising in so many ways from the
start. But he is also a classic example
in the end of simply not having what it takes to stay the course and walk with
God through all of life. In the end for
Saul, it is Saul’s appetite for his own passions that gets him into trouble.
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