King Saul Disobeys God

Saul was the king of Israel. He was supposed to obey God in EVERYTHING. But Saul didn't always obey.

One time, Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to God. But the enemy army was coming, and Saul's soldiers were scared and running away. Saul got worried and impatient.

Instead of waiting, Saul offered the sacrifice himself! That was wrong—only priests were supposed to do that.

Right when Saul finished, Samuel arrived. 'What have you DONE?' Samuel asked.

Saul made excuses. 'The men were leaving! The enemy was coming! You didn't get here on time! I HAD to do something!'

Samuel said something very sad: 'You did a foolish thing. You didn't obey God. Now your family won't be kings forever. God is looking for someone who will obey Him completely.'

But Saul got another chance. God told Saul, 'Attack the Amalekites and destroy EVERYTHING—all the people and all the animals.' This was God's punishment for the Amalekites' sins.

Saul attacked and won the battle! But he didn't obey completely. He kept the king alive. He kept the best sheep and cows. Saul thought, 'These are too good to destroy!'

Samuel came to see Saul. Saul said, 'I obeyed the Lord!'

But Samuel heard animals. 'Then what is that BLEATING I hear? Why do I hear cows MOOING?'

Saul got caught! He made more excuses: 'Oh, the soldiers wanted to keep the best animals to sacrifice to God!'

Samuel said something VERY important: 'Does God want sacrifices, or does He want OBEDIENCE? To obey is better than sacrifice! Because you rejected God's command, He has rejected you as king. God is giving the kingdom to someone better than you!'

Saul said, 'I'm sorry!' But it was too late. He had disobeyed too many times.

Samuel was so sad. He never saw Saul again.

The lesson? Partial obedience is still disobedience. God wants us to obey Him COMPLETELY, not just a little bit. And making excuses doesn't make it better. God wants us to say, 'Yes, Lord!' and do what He says!