THE BLEATING OF SHEEP: SELF DECEPTION

“Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” ~ I Samuel 15:13

REFERENCE:

I Samuel 15:1-14

My mentor, Reverend Sam Adeyemi, once said, “The gap between what you know and what you do is the measure of your self-deception.” A.W. Tozer also said, “Of all forms of deception self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.” Another fact the bleating of the sheep revealed was Saul’s self-deception.

The dictionary defines self-deception as the action or practice of allowing oneself to believe that a false or unvalidated feeling, idea, or situation is true. It bothers on mental ill-health. A self-deceived person creates his truth from a lie and believes it above every piece of evidence around him. He listens to nobody, receives counsel from no one, never sees a need to learn or be better, and celebrates his achievement when it is only in his head.

Saul was given clear instructions on what to do with Amalek – utterly destroy living and non-living things there. But Saul set a different syllabus for himself and did what he believed was the best despite God’s clear command. God said, “Destroy ALL,” but Saul only destroyed what he thought was worthless; when Samuel asked, he said, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” Saul was so self-deceived he built a monument to commemorate his victory.

You may build monuments to yourself, Saul, but we can also hear the bleating of sheep in the background. You can organize a victory parade, invite dignitaries to the victory reception, print forged certificates, and hang them on your office wall; you may say you are a good reborn Christian, but your lifestyle says the contrary; we can hear sheep bleating behind you. You can give accolades to yourself, but God is not pleased, even if you fool people. It is the sound of self-deception.

Tell yourself the hard truth and break the bondage of self-deception. The danger of self-deception is that you can get to a point where you no longer know what ‘truth’ is again. God will speak, but you will only hear yourself or your thoughts. You will conclude everyone is wrong except you. Saul lost focus; he was in a world of his own, a world where he did everything well. Yet, he was in that world alone. Are there sheep bleating around you?

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 26:16, and Galatians 6:7

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PRAYER:

+ Lord, let the scales of self-deception fall from my eyes, in Jesus’ name.

+ I refuse to make myself, my opinion, feelings, etc., more important than God’s.

+ I welcome the truth of God in every area of my life. I will be committed to it, obey it, guide my life by it, and believe it above other voices on earth.