Take Heed to Your Election

God can bless us when we have humble thoughts about ourselves and, if we remain in this state, we can be preserved in the blessing. The latter is not the least. On the contrary, there are examples of people who, when they are richly blessed by God, quickly forget and forsake that state of lowliness in which they received the blessing. Saul was one of them. In 1 Samuel 15:17 Samuel said to him, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?”

When we consider ourselves lowly in our own eyes in spirit and in truth, we can be certain that a considerable amount of progress has been made in our life. Therefore God also rewards richly according to the law which He Himself has established: “. . . he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Saul could humble himself so that God could bless and exalt him, but he did not manage to live in this exalted state. This speaks very seriously to us about how necessary it is to follow Jesus’ commandment: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.”

God chose Saul to be king when he was little. God was also able to save us when we were little in our own eyes; and He can make us one with Him who is King forever if we continue to be little until the very end.

Saul lost his kingdom. God took it away from him and gave it to David, of whom He testified, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart; he shall do all My will.” If we do not take heed to our calling, God will raise up someone else in our place to whom He will give our crown. A person ends up in a bad state when he becomes great in himself because of what God has given him. How often do we not witness that the clay breaks into pieces, so that God has to remold it into a lesser vessel?

In the beginning it was a matter of course to listen to the elders and be easily entreated. But soon you were on top and knew best about everything. Humility was, so to speak, blown away. The meetings are a good case in point. For as long as you were little in your own eyes you did not fail to attend the meetings; you came in the spirit of fear, afraid of being late. If you said anything the words were few, but fervent. However, once humility is gone, punctuality is gone with it, and the words become many—without spirit and life—and you like to hear your own voice. This is the spirit of Saul which God has rejected. We must also take up the battle against it whenever we notice it in ourselves, or in others. Let us say together with David, “I will humble myself even more than this, and be little in my own eyes: and I will be honored together with the maidservants of whom you have spoken.” 2 Samuel 6:22.

Trygve Sandvik