Presumption

1 Samuel 15:22-23 ESV
22 And Samuel said,
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

This was the turning point for King Saul. He didn't fully obey God in a situation: he didn't destroy everything, as the Lord commanded, after fighting with the Amalekites, but spared the sheep for sacrifice. He didn't follow God's instructions to the letter, but presumed the Lord would be happy with a sacrifice of the choicest of the sheep.

How is your obedience to God? Are you listening to him or do you substitute "good deeds" hoping that you can ignore that one bit of obedience? Is God asking you to love someone that you just don't want to, so you take on a Sunday school class hoping that it is the appropriate sacrifice? What does verse 22 say?

Or can it be that you are doing things for the Lord and in your excitement to do what you think is right, you are ignoring Him? What does verse 23 say about presumption?

Seek the Lord first in all that you do. Don't be so concerned with serving Him as much as just obeying Him. If you put obedience first, the serving will automatically follow. Tomorrow's devotional will show what the Bible says what the Lord is looking for.