Separation from God (1 Samuel 27-29)

I really appreciate the picture the Bible gives us in this reading of what happens when sin enters the scene and separation occurs.  I think we're tempted to buy into the idea that our sin doesn't really hurt us.  But because of God's holiness, our sin creates a barrier between us and him.  That is why Saul's inquiry to the Lord comes back unanswered.  Desperate to find out what his future will hold, Saul visits a medium.  The funny thing is that all Saul needed to do to know the future was to listen to the prophet God put in his path many year ago.  It didn't matter how much Saul wanted to end David's life and remove him from the earth because God appointed David as the next king, and Saul couldn't do anything to stop it from happening.  Saul shouldn't have been surprised not to hear from God because Saul wasn't walking with God.  It's funny how we tend to make God like a genie in a lamp.  Leave me alone until I want something, and then give me what I want when I want it.  Unfortunately for Saul God didn't work that way; and the lesson for us is that He still doesn't.