Repeated Failure< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

1 Samuel 13:5-15, 15:1-9

The first time King Saul failed was when he began to focus in the strength of his army. The second time he failed, it started with his army. In his first failure, Samuel required of Saul to wait for him in carrying out burnt offerings and peace offerings before going to war against the Philistines. Saul waited but he could not wait long enough before he carried out the offerings himself. 1 Samuel < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>13:11, ÒAnd Samuel said, ÔWhat have you done?Õ Saul said, ÔWhen I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Micmash.ÕÓ So he took the law into his own hands and did what was not supposed to be done by him. One will think Saul learned from the first mistake, but Saul did not, instead he went into a repeated failure. He was to go and attack the Amalekites by GodÕs command. After receiving the command from Samuel, the first thing he did was to turn again to the army.  1 Samuel 15:4, ÒSo Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.Ó Saul always looked to the army. Saul wanted to make sure he could carry out the command with what he had instead of what God can do through him. He was concerned in the numbers, but God does not operate by numbers but by act of obedience. If he had gone by virtue of the lesson learned from the first experience, God would not have regretted His calling of Saul. Saul probably acted without purpose, but before God, there is no excuse. It is possible to get into a repeated mistake but the result is always failure. Repeated failure is a careless mistake and it can be extremely costly. Today, ask God to deliver you from careless mistakes.