The Picture of a Man Out of Fellowship With God

I love the descriptions that are painted for us in the Scriptures. We are often given little details that really give us a mental picture of the person in that passage, or of the situation as it unfolds. Yesterday I read I Samuel 22 and was enamoured by the clear portrait of a man who was out of fellowship with God; the man was Saul.

In this chapter Saul learns that David has slipped out of his fingers once again and had even been aided by the priest, Ahimelech. Saul is so angered by this that he pulls his men together. He is standing underneath a tree giving his men a lecture all the while the Scripture says, “having his spear in his hand.” I wonder if he was showing the sharpness of the blade while he spoke his angry words to them. Was he threatening them with this gesture? My speculation is that he was.

I won’t take the time to describe the whole story, you can read it here. But what I saw as I read the passage was what a person acts like or looks like when he’s out of fellowship with God. I’m not sure if Saul was truly a believer, but even if he was, the first sign of a man out of fellowship with the Lord is that he:

imitates an unbeliever

becomes self-sufficient vs. 6

judges incorrectly and jumps to conclusions vs. 7, 8

is selfish vs. 8b

will try to persuade others to join their ungodly ways vs 8c

will have close companions that are also ungodly vs. 9, 10

will be arrogant vs. 11

will not listen to the truth or be reasonable vs 14, 15

will make poor/ungodly decisions Vs. 16

will despise godly people and will do anything to avoid them. Vs. 17

A person doesn’t have to have all those characteristics in their life (as Saul did) to be out of fellowship with God. They may have only 2 or 3 of the ten listed. We need to look at our own hearts carefully and see of any if these are a part of our lives at this time. If so, we can repent (I John 1:9) and be restored before we begin to look like this description. If someone read this list, would they think of me? Of you? Or would they find us in this list…

Love

Peace

Long suffering

Gentleness

Goodness

Faith

Meekness

Temperance

Oh, may it be so!

Have a great weekend and I’ll look for you in church!

3 thoughts on “The Picture of a Man Out of Fellowship With God”

O, may it be so of me!!
Thank you Denise for your blogs. They are always a blessing to me and sometimes brings conviction to my heart. Thank you for allowing the Lord to use you in this way!!

LikeLike