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You may have noticed that I am a collector of fine hats. I have a whole hoard of them hanging
on hooks all around my home. I have tried to wear each in turn when coming to church, out
visiting, or in any media content I put out. I love them all! It all started a few years ago on
vacation while we were walking around Disney Springs, when I came across a hat shop. I just
went in to look around and came out with a prized black fedora. It didn’t take long for a random
passerby to say, “Wow! That’s a nice hat” and I was hooked! The problem is my ego inflates to
proportions that practically ensure I can hardly fit through a door!

Scripture tells us in 1st Samuel that Saul created a mess for himself with this same attitude. In
case you don’t know, Saul was the first king of Israel. After Joshua and the Israelites conquered
the land of Canaan, the tribes took their allotted territory, struggling to live according to God’s
law because they failed to eradicate the people groups that remained in the land. The
settlement of Canaan took place during the time of the Judges, Samuel being the last and
greatest of them. In Samuel’s time, the people demanded that God appoint a king over them,
essentially rejecting God as their king. After several warnings about a human king, He gave
them what they wanted, appointing Saul of the tribe of Benjamin as King over Israel. Saul
started out really well! At the beginning of his kingship, in his own eyes God was BIG and Saul
was small. He was humble and sought after the LORD, but sadly, that was not to last.

Saul’s story comes to a boiling point in 1st Samuel 15. God commands him, as king, to lead
Israel in destroying the Amalekites; every man, women, child, and all of the live stock. It was a
scorched earth protocol! Saul attacks, but takes king Agag captive and keeps the choicest of the
live stock instead. The LORD informs Samuel of this disobedience and tells Him, “I regret that I
made Saul king because he has turned back from following me and has not performed my
commandments” (Verse ref).

Samuel travels to confront Saul’s disobedience and discovers that Saul has erected a victory
monument for himself on Mt. Carmel…that doesn’t really sound like a guy who is small in his
own eyes anymore, does it? When he finally catches up with Saul, Samuel tells him the LORD
has rejected him because of his disobedience.

Now, if you’ve made it this far in the article, you can probably guess my point and even write the
rest for me. So, let”s all say it together, Saul allowed his ego to get the better of him and
stopped following the commands of the LORD. Saul’s pride made God small and Saul big.

So, how do we avoid this in our own lives? I have two ideas because I don’t have enough room
for three.

The first step may not seem that obvious, but it truly is…stay rooted in God’s Word each day. In
Deuteronomy 17, God gives instructions for when the Israelites get a king. The big ticket item on
this list is that the king is to make a copy of the law for himself and read it everyday. If Saul had
followed that first command, it is more likely that he would have obeyed the Lord by eliminating
the Amalekites. He would have remembered the blessings of following the LORD and the
curses for neglecting Him. Staying rooted in God’s Word each day (not just on Sunday’s) keeps
our hearts and minds set on heavenly things, not on earthly things (Colossians 3). Psalm
119:105 says that God’s word illuminates our daily walk and gives life to our path. If we are
reading and studying God’s Words each day it will be fresh in our minds. Let me say this,
however you can consume the Bible is fair game. Maybe reading is not your thing; listen to it.
We live in a time when the Bible has never been more accessible. It can be made available to
you via the Internet, your smart device, CD, or even tape. However you can, consume God’s
Word each day.

Second is the obvious one…stay humble. The best way to do this is to follow the 2 greatest
commands in Scripture; put God first, in the top most place in your life and after that put others.
When I get a compliment about my hats I have to deflect the attention off myself and say, “You
look great too!”, or “the hat does all the work!”, or just plain give glory to God. In our story, when
Saul was confronted about his error he blamed his men, telling Samuel they took the cattle to
make sacrifices; again putting himself first! If he would have put God first and followed His
command in stead of the clamoring of the men, or his own pride and selfish desires, Saul may
have avoided the coming judgement. Staying humble by putting God first in our lives puts
everything else in it’s proper place. As Jesus said, seek God’s kingdom first and all the rest will
follow.