IMITATE THEIR FAITH - "it Was With God That He Acted"

For Saul, that victory did not turn out as well as it did for Jonathan.  Saul had made some grave mistakes.  He disobeyed Jehovah's appointed prophet Samuel by offering a sacrifice that the prophet who also a Levite, was suppose to offer.  When Samuel arrived, he told Saul that because of such disobedience, his kingdom would not last.  Then, when Saul sent his meninto battle, he first put them under  an ill-advised oath:?  "Cursed is the man who eats any food before the evening and until I have taken vengeance upon my enemies!" - 1 Samuel 13:10-14; 14:24.

Saul's words hint at a sad change in the man.  Was the humble, spiritual man becoming an ambitious egotist?  After all, Jehovah never directed that such an unreasonable restriction be put on those brave, hardworking soldiers.  What what about Saul's words "until I have taken vengeance  on my enemies" - do they suggest that Saul thought tha this was all about him? Was he forgetting that it was Jehovah's justice that mattered and not Saul's hunger for vengeance, glory, or conquest? 

 Jonathan knew nothing about his father's ill-conceived oath.  Exhausted from the heated battle, he dipped his stafff into a honeycomb and tasted some honey; he immediately felt his strength revive.  Then one his men told him about his father's prohibition against eating.  Jonathan responded:  "My father had brought  a great trouble  on the land.  Look how my eyes brightened because I tasted this little bit of honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today from the spoil of their enemies that they found!  For then the slaughter of the Philistins would have been even greater." (1 Samuel 14:25-30) He was right.  Jonathan was a loyal son, but his loyalty was not blind.  He did not mindlessly agree with everything his father did or said, and that balanced view earned the respect of others. 

Next time:  IMITATE THEIR FAITH/JONATHAN - "It Was With God That He Acted" 

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