MAY 12 "DO YOU HAVE AN ENTITLEMENT MINDSET?"

       I have to admit, I read this story about Saul and think to myself, "I would have done the same thing". I don't know what else to say, maybe you're different. Let's read Saul's excuse,  When I saw that the men were scattering and that you did not come at the set time and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, "now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord's favor. so I felt compelled to offer the burnt offerings"  I say, "Amen brother".   # 1 Samuel is late, # 2 the men are scattering # 3 the Philistines are assembling...there's a lot of pressure mounting here and the only thing that is stopping them is not being able to do the sacrifice and move on to attack...and where is Samuel? He made what we call today, "an executive decision". So what is the deal here?  The only thing I can derive from this is that God makes no exception "to the rules".  Hard times, pressure moments never gives allowance to deviate from standards. Perhaps this understanding would do well in all of life. None of these men involved in The Enron scams did what they did because they had nothing better to do, neither did any of these men deviate from standards when times were good. When Kenneth Lay, CEO of Enron found himself in a crisis situation, he, like Saul felt justified in deviating from what he was allowed to do as a CEO.  He felt justified even as Saul did. He felt that though rules are rules, in this particular case, there was going to have to be an exception.  THE POINT.....the point perhaps we should learn is that there is NEVER an exception. Right is right and wrong is wrong and the means never justify the ends otherwise everything becomes shades of grey, there is no black or white, there is no right and wrong, everything is then based on moral relativity, situational ethics. There's no black and white right and wrong it just depends upon the situation at hand.  Well, this doesn't go over well with God. Look at the mess it caused at Enron and look at the mess it caused with Saul. We also get more insight into this later on that Pride is also part of the issue here. Never in Saul's younger, more humble days would he have even thought of offering Priestly Sacrifices, but here, where he is older, entitlement and pride kicks in. In his younger years he would have just dealt with the situation or cried out to God to help him, but he would not have dared violate the laws and then try to justify it. Had Saul refused to do this and cried out to God, don't you know Samuel would have showed up. It's no coincidence that Samuel shows up right after Saul gives in and does the Priestly Sacrifice. The Entitlement mindset has gotten more leaders into trouble than anything else, both inside and outside the church. The mindset that because I do all that I do for these people (whether corporation or church) I deserve ____________ ( you fill in the blank).  What we can learn from this story today is that no matter how high the waters rise, no matter how deep we sink in the mud, we must never think that breaking the rules is the answer; rather than crying out to God and waiting on him. "But what if I drown waiting....?" Then you do....but more than likely, though it may get awful close, God will not let you drown or go under. But even at worse, better to go down to the grave or be overcome by your circumstances and be right with God, than violate God's laws and principles and have to answer to him later.