Original: July 26, 2007
Cancun, Mexico
20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night. 21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. 22 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way." 1 Samuel 28:15-22
One of the first things to go when I am tired is the strength to get out of bed in the morning. The desperate need for more sleep is a warning sign that the tank is empty and needs to be filled. If the tank continues to drain without refueling the engine will run dry. Just a few weeks ago we were hauling a load to students back from Hume Lake in a van with a broken gas gauge. I had a feeling we were low so I pulled off on the closest exit. As I pulled up to the gas pump the van stopped running!
A man can never be sure of when his tank will reach empty so he must go with the warning signs that his tank is running low. When his tank is dangerously low he will lose the power to conquer simple things such as getting out of bed in the morning.
As I study this passage from Saul’s life a couple of strength killers stand out. This passage tells us Saul had run his tank until he literally had “no strength in him.” Ironically, this passage takes place one day before the death of Saul and his sons (vs. 19, 31:1-13).
Two major choices led to the final demise of Saul's rule and favor with God. First, was that Saul veered form his God in 1 Samuel 28:7-8 in order to conjure Samuel back from the dead:
Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her." "There is one in Endor," they said. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."
In other words, Saul used an unholy conduit to accomplish his personal will and not God’s. How often do men fall into sin when we move ahead of God’s will. Just as Saul hid himself under “other clothes” so men often hide their secret life of sin.
God does things His way and demands that we walk in that way and with and undivided heart (Psalm 86:11). Saul lacked patience and a desire to seek God, which led him to compromise by seeking the guidance of a medium. What mediums do you pursue as a counterfeit to what God has in store for you-materialism, technology, pornography, ambition, pride? Or “what other mediums am I absorbing that may take away my strength-late nights in front of the television, working too long without Sabbath, unhealthy relationships, poor diet, lack of exercise?”
Second, “his strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night” (20). American men must stop under spiritualizing our diets under the solitary verse that “Physical training has little value (1 Timothy 4:8).” I cannot tell you how many obese slobs fill American pulpits. What are they telling men? No wonder men avoid their churches! Get out of your lazy work chair and work up a sweat for a change. No one wants to follow someone whose life clearly does not model victory.
Whether physical or spiritual a man’s strength is directly correlated to his diet. In this age of hydrogenated oils (trans fat) and high fructose corn syrups, we must move away from processed foods that pollute our systems, zap our energy, addict us to garbage, and create an obese temple of God. We must move closer to the Garden of Eden and the natural foods that empower our body and spirit and further away for cheaper more processed imitations.
