You Must Fill the Gap to Survive
Bible passage: 1 Samuel 15:17-23
“17. Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18. And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19. Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?" 20. "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.”
The following happened at a department store in Korea on June 29th, 1995. The department store was booming due to the overflow of customers.
The department store was the largest department store in Seoul at the time, and many people were having a great time shopping, eating out, and having fun. However, people were not able to predict what would happen one minute later. In order to sell more products to more customers, the department store removed the walls supporting the building one by one to expand the space and attract more stores. Then, the weight of the heavy building shifted downward, and small cracks began to appear in the ceiling. When the department store employee saw the small crack, he thought, “This is still okay.
It’s a very small crack.” However, that small gap was a signal for the beginning of a huge disaster that was about to come. The crack in the ceiling was really small, but the huge building collapsed in an instant, and the people who were spending a peaceful time inside the building were instantly swept into disaster. If department store officials had seen the small gap in the first place and taken it as a serious problem, such a sad tragedy could have been prevented. The dictionary meaning of ‘gap’ is ‘a space between two objects’. Originally, things that were supposed to be put together like this space was created between them.
In some ways, this gap is so small compared to the whole object that it may not be considered a big deal. 1 fell apart, so a However, keep in mind that everything can be blown away due to a small gap that may seem insignificant. Families, human relationships, managements, buildings, and even any alliance or solid logic begin to collapse due to a gap. The background of the scripture is like this. At that time, Israel had not yet formed a state and was under serious threat from neighboring countries.
The people of Israel, like other pagan nations, demanded a king, and Saul was chosen as the first king of Israel. He was a man without blemish physically. 1 Samuel 9:2 says that Saul was ‘a choice and handsome young man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel’. In 1 Samuel 10:1, Saul received the word “the LORD has anointed you a ruler over His inheritance. ” In verse 7, he received the word, “God is with you. ” In verse 10, ‘the Spirit of God came upon him mightily.’ In verse 24, it was declared that he was the one chosen by the LORD. As God's chosen one, he was at first well-pleasing to God. At the time he was chosen, he was perfect in appearance, personality, character, and faith. Why did King Saul's life, which had been so flawless, completely collapse? Looking at the life of King Saul, who had no gaps at first, today I will preach under the title, ‘You Must Fill the Gap to Survive, ’ for Youth Mission Group Devotional Service. 1. King Saul was unable to close the small gap between him and God. The relationship between God and us was originally connected as one with no gaps.
2 However, because of Adam's sin, a gap arose and the gap widened between God and humans. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” But the problem here is that people don't feel the seriousness of this. Even though one sees a gap, he doesn’t feel at all that a serious problem has emerged between God and him. Looking at the case of King Saul, the main character of today's scripture, after Saul became king, he went to war with the Philistines. First, he had to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to God, and King Saul offered the sacrifices that a prophet or priest should have offered.
1 Samuel 13 says, So, Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. ” King Saul overstepped his authority to offer burnt offerings that only prophets and priests should have offered. 1 Samuel 13:11-12 says, “But Samuel said, “What have you done?” therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” A gap began to appear between King Saul and God. It would have been nice if he had immediately acknowledged his mistake and repented, but King Saul made an excuse.
He gives reasons and excuses, saying that it was because Samuel came late, and shifts responsibility to Samuel, saying that he had no choice but to do it and that it was not his fault. By making excuses and shifting responsibility, the gap between God and King Saul was widening. And in the end, in 1 Samuel 13:13, Saul receives a harsh rebuke. “Samuel said to Saul, “You have done a foolish thing; You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you;” Afterwards, King Saul went to war with Amalek, and God said in 1 Samuel 15:3, “Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” But in 1 Samuel 15:9, Saul once again does not keep the Word of God. It says, “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.” In the end, God says in 1 Samuel 15:11 that he regrets making Saul king.
He said, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” The gap of faith and trust between God and King Saul was completely expanded. Nevertheless, King Saul does not try to close the gap between him and God, but only excuses his situation and disobeys. Prophet Samuel ultimately concludes Saul's life in 1 Samuel 15:23 saying, “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being This kind of people believe in God only when it is convenient for them. king. ” They say they believe in God, but they seek God only when they need Him and when it is beneficial to them.
They go to worship only when they want to go, pray to God only when they want to pray, and at other times, they live as if there is no God. It creates a gap with God; that is, Living at a distance from God. There are many young people around who say the following. “There is no need of believing too much! What’s the point in believing so hard? Just believe in moderation and go to heaven.” To believe in moderation is neither to believe nor not to believe. And this is not faith. There is a time in the Bible when people believed in God like that. They say they believe in God. Although they said they were God's people, they only sought God when necessary, but usually served an idol called Baal.
To them, the prophet shouted asking: ‘How long will you waver between the two?’ 1 Kings 18:21 says, “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.” How long will you remain lukewarm? Revelation 3:15-16 says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Remember that a gap with God can completely destroy your life. We must keep in mind that having a gap with God is not a normal state, but a serious state. If you feel and realize that the distance between you and God has widened and that a gap has appeared, you must make efforts to close that gap. There is a man named Augustine who is called a saint of the Middle Ages.
His mother, Monica, was a sincere Christian. However, as a young man, Augustine lived a debauched life, contrary to his mother's expectations. When he was young, he followed his mother's example and believed in God, but now he believed in a foreign religion. He was driven by money, lived with a wealthy widow older than himself, and became consumed with alcohol and sin. He was living a life where the gap between him and God was widening. However, his mother was not disappointed and prayed for her son with her tears. One day, while passing by, he had the experience of hearing the voice of God. It was the moment when his mother Monica's prayers were answered. That voice was the word from Romans 13:12, which says, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” After this mysterious experience of hearing the Word of God, Augustine repented thoroughly, to the point where he even wrote a famous book called ‘Confessions’ in which he wrote about his repentance. During that time, he indulged in debauchery through alcohol and sin, and completely filled the gap with God with repentance, tears, and change, and became a revered figure, called a saint in the Middle Ages. In order to bridge the wide gap caused by sin and evil, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, thereby filling the gap between us and God with His love and blood. Closing the gap with God and living as one with Him makes us happy.
John 15:4 says, “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” A life of finding God in the little things in life and being thankful for it, living with happiness and joy in our lives, a life enjoying God in that way is a beautiful life. Even in the midst of a life that no one can rejoice in, he who can call the name of God, find Him and thank Him in any case even in such circumstances is one who lives a life of relying only on God and such life is what God wants. 6 God wants a life that no one can be happy about, but a life that calls on God's name even in such situations, can seek God and give thanks, and lives a life that relies only on God no matter what. At that time we should confess like this, “My life lasts only one minute and one second, and I cannot live without God. All times are times when I need God and rely on Him.” Are there people who live at a distance from God? I hope that all of our youth mission group members and the rest of believers will quickly and thoroughly fill the gap between them and God by yearning for the Word more and loving Jesus Christ more. I hope that you will live as one with God, with no gap or distance from Him.
2. King Saul became isolated from not only Samuel, but also many people. Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” If you please God, that is, if there is no gap between you and God, the gap in your relationship with others will be filled and there will be harmony. If you think about it the other way around, it means that if a gap opens up between you and God, a gap opens up between you and other people as well. Looking at the words in 1 Samuel 15:25-26a, we can see that the trust relationship between King Saul and Prophet Samuel was completely broken. King Saul said to Samuel, "Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.” But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you;" So, in verse 35, we can see that the human relationship between Samuel and King Saul was completely cut off.
It says, “Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again,” Because King Saul did not close the gap between him and God, the gap kept widening between him and prophet Samuel, and David too, and many other priests, and even with his son Jonathan, who should have been closest to him. He lived a life full of gaps. Let us not be like King Saul, who didn’t close the gap between him and Samuel and rather kept widening it. Because King Saul did not close the gap with God, the gap in his relationship with people widened. King Saul's relationship not only with Samuel, but also with David, his son-in-law, became very strained. Even more so, a gap opened up between him and his eldest son, Jonathan, the son he should have been closest to.
In 1 Samuel 20:30,33, Saul even calls his son, “son of a perverse and rebellious woman!” and “hurled his spear at him to kill him.” A gap also appeared in the relationship with the priests, the servants of God. 1 Samuel 22: 18,19 says, “The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.” He committed an evil act by having the Gentile Edomite, his servant the Israelite priests, including Ahimelech, and his family. Shouldn’t there be a gap between you and servant of the Lord? However, King Saul brutally killed the priests, who are today's servants of the Lord.
Therefore, it is not very good for a gap to appear in human relationships. In the letter sent by Apostle Paul to Timothy, there is this sad content. In 2 Timothy 4:10-11, 14-16, he records, “but all deserted me; Only Luke is with me.” ‘Doeg,’ kill all 8 Among those who were with Apostle Paul, there were people who loved the world and had a gap with Paul, but instead of filling the gap with repentance and love, they harmed Apostle Paul's ministry and went on to oppose Apostle Paul and then abandoned Apostle Paul. It teaches the lesson that if you do not fill the gaps, saying, ‘The Lord will reward you according to what you have done,’ your life will eventually fall apart. Satan is always looking for an opportunity to hinder Christians from living like Christians. Even if there is only a slight gap or a moment of distraction, Satan will not miss the opportunity. Therefore, when confronting Satan, the most important thing is to prevent Satan from taking advantage. So, Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:25-27, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” He advises, ‘do not give the devil an opportunity.’ When we speak untruth and practice untruth, we provide the devil with an opportunity to take advantage of our lives. So, you must throw away lies and speak the truth, and even if you get angry, do not harbor anger, but quickly throw it away, and repent and turn around before the sun sets. When we practice untruths such as lies, anger, and hatred, the devil creeps into our thoughts, hearts, and lives through that small gap and begins his work. It is very important to prevent gaps between spouses, parents and children at home. It is important to prevent gaps between believers. 9 When a gap arises between us, Satan sees that gap as an opportunity to attack us. If we practice untruth, it is the same as giving Satan an opportunity like saying, “attack me.” Among people, there are people who, when they see a gap, try to fill it.
Such people are evangelical, vital, and productive people. On the other hand, there are people who create gaps and widen them. Such people are worldly, destructive, and devilish. What type of person are you? It can be said that there are two types of people in the church. One type of person is a person who builds bridges, and another type of person is a person who builds walls. There is a peace maker, a ‘bridge builder’ of love and a bridge of harmony between believers so that they can build bridges and they can understand each other, serve each other, and become one. On the contrary, there are ‘fence builders’, or ‘Discord makers’, who only assert themselves, complain, associate only with people they like, and create and divide sides. We hope that our Youth Mission Group members will not be ‘people who build walls,’ but rather become ‘people who build bridges.’ So, let us become a youth mission group with no gaps, no walls, and no discord between us, and become a bridge of evangelism that spreads the gospel of holiness to the world, imitating Jesus Christ, who made us one with God, and spread the love of God.
I pray that you will become a bridge of love that delivers love to the world and a bridge of power that delivers the fiery work of the Holy Spirit to the ends of the earth in Africa. In Chapter 6 of Genesis, when Noah built the ark, he filled the gaps in the ark with bitumen. It was God's instruction. Genesis 6:14 says, “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.” Noah obeyed God's word and filled the gaps between the cypress trees that made the ark with bitumen, and only then was he able to build a perfect ark that did not leak water. If there had been a gap between the cypress trees, water would have leaked in and Noah's family on the ark would not have been safe. We too must use bitumen or pitch to bridge the gaps that have prevented us from becoming one and achieving harmony. We must fill the gap caused by hatred and strife with love, understanding, forgiveness, and the bitumen of truth. If there is a gap between believers or even between family members, the gap must be filled with the bitumen of love. I hope that we, Manmin believers, will think of each other as ‘Manmin family’ and, with the intimacy of family, we will fill any gaps between us with the silicon of love, understanding, and forgiveness. In the Bible, Apostle Paul called believers brothers and sisters in faith. And he encouraged them to treat each other like family.
1 Timothy 5:1-2 says, “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” Just as family members do not criticize, misunderstand, or put each other in trouble, understand each other even when they have shortcomings, embrace each other when they have hurts, provide strength when something is difficult, and fill in gaps when there are gaps, you, dear Manmin believers, treat each other as family. I hope that you will live together as one in love. 3. King Saul was unable to close the huge gap that had formed within him. 1 Samuel 16:14 says, “Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him.” The gap between God and others, including God's servant Samuel, created a huge gap in King Saul's personality, faith, and life, and eventually God left him, and an evil spirit came to work in his place. It gets to the point where this happens.
As the gap grows and deepens, it becomes uncontrollable later. So, the collapse becomes severe. Normally, he should have done a good job of ‘filling the gap,’ but King Saul neglected it without making any effort to close the gap. Just as air escapes through a small hole in a balloon and air escapes from a small gap in a tire, truth escapes from the soul, love escapes from the heart, and under the weight of the weakened heart, it becomes empty. You feel empty, lonely, and hopeless. In fact, although King Saul was a king, how difficult and lonely must he have been mentally? He would have lived a very difficult life with no one to open up and talk to honestly, no true friends around him, no love from God, no recognition from the people, and a sense of mental exhaustion and emotional pressure. Why did this happen? Because he was unable to bridge the gap in his relationship with himself. In the parable of the prodigal son appears in Luke Chapter 15, the prodigal son left his father and became a failure in life, having to eat the pods eaten by pigs. He filled the gap between 'reality and his inner self', such as feelings of failure, frustration, guilt, and desolation, with thorough self-reflection, obedience and love for his father, and took the place of his son, not his hired servant, and he was able to recover.
As we live in an unfair and uncertain modern society, we may feel that there is a large gap between reality and our ideals. To all the youth mission group members who are holding their devotional service today, as we look at this world that does not tolerate our dreams and ideals, we should not suffer from a sense of separation, but rather bridge the gap between us and the world with the power of God, the grace of the Lord, and the help of the Holy Spirit. I believe that we must fill it up and create a character without gaps, faith without gaps, and a life without gaps. While I was reading an article, I was moved to tears by hearing stories of people who really had no flaws in their character and conscience, and I felt a great challenge as I wondered if I could really act like these people in a situation like this. I had a big challenge, so I'd like to introduce it to you. This is the story of how Britain built the world's largest cruise ship, the Titanic, in 1912, and on its first voyage it hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic.
This incident was also made into a movie. Since the movie was made mainly for box office success, the actual story was unknown, but the ‘vice captain’, who was the only survivor among the crew at the time, revealed the true story of the accident. When it hit a huge iceberg, a small crack appeared in the hull, which gradually grew larger and the ship sank. It was a major accident in which 1,514 people died. This is the story of people who maintained their character, conscience, and human dignity even in life-or-death situations, and although the ship sank because a gap occurred, these people had no gap at all in their character and life. Let me read the article written by the survivor ‘Vice Captain’. ‘The captain gave an order to rescue the women and children first ahead of the sinking. I called loudly, ‘Women and children, come here!’, but only a few women and children abandoned their families and tried to board the lifeboat alone.’
After the first lifeboat went down to sea, Mr. Astor, then the richest man in the world, sent his five-month pregnant wife into the lifeboat, sat on her deck, and shouted to her boat as it went away. "I Love You!" A sailor who was watching this asked her husband, Mr. Aster, to get on the boat, but Mr. Aster flatly refused. “Shouldn’t people have at least a minimum of conscience?” He then gave up the last remaining seat to an Irish woman next to her. Although he was a wealthy man with enough fortune to build ten Titanic ships, he turned down every opportunity to survive. It was the great man's only choice to protect his conscience with his own life. Mr. Guggenheim, who was a successful banker, said this while changing into a fancy evening dress even at the moment when his life was in danger. “Even if I die, I will keep my integrity and die like a gentleman.” In the note that Mr. Guggenheim gave to his wife, this was written: “There will be no women on this ship who die without being rescued due to my selfishness. I will die like a gentleman only if I live a life worthy of a fool.” At a survivors' meeting in Lausanne, Greece, Mrs. Smith recalled the woman who gave her her seat and said: “At that time, when my two children boarded the lifeboat, it was full and there was no room for me. At this time, a woman stood up and pulled me to the lifeboat and said, “Come up.
The kids need their mommy!” The remarkable woman left no name behind. Her people erected a monument to her “Her Nameless Mother.” Among the victims were many prominent figures in society, such as billionaire 'Asted', famous newspaperman 'Hempstead', army major 'Bart', and famous engineer 'Luobure', but all of them gave up their seats to the ordinary rural women by their side. When the ship began to sink, people cried out to each other in the last moments of life and death, “I love you! I love you!” On that day, we were all able to see what great character, humanity, and love are all about. The Titanic hit an iceberg, cracked the hull, created gaps, and water seeped in, eventually sinking, but there were no flaws in their personalities and lives.’ In addition, many other people's impeccable character and love are recorded, but I only briefly mentioned them here. Ephesians 4:15 says, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,” Dear Youth Mission Group members and beloved Manmin Church members, if there are gaps in our character, let us fill them with the character of the Lord. If there is a gap in our love, let us fill it with the love of the Lord. If there is a gap in our hearts, let us fill it with the heart of the Lord. If there is a gap in our inner world, let us strive to reach the full stature of the Lord by doing what is true in love. If there is a gap in our soul, let us fill it with the holiness of the Lord.
Conclusion To achieve this, he tells us to catch the little fox that destroys the vineyard of life. Song of Songs 2:15 says, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” Did it say it's not just a fox, but a little fox? After all, it is not something huge that destroys our lives or families, but as the saying goes, it is just a small hole that causes the dam to collapse. What do you think is the little fox that is destroying your life? Aren’t we just neglecting this now? “It's too small. Oh well, who doesn't commit sin? All humans make mistakes to this extent, right?” Do you think this way? 15 However, it can be a weapon that will completely destroy our lives. King Saul, who had no gap at first, developed a gap between him and God, and people, and within himself. He left the gap unfilled and faced a tragedy that completely destroyed his life.
1. King Saul was unable to close the small gap between him and God.
2. King Saul was unable to close the gap with those around him, including Prophet Samuel.
3. King Saul was unable to close the huge gap that had formed within him. The Youth Mission Group and our Manmin members who are holding a devotional service today will help us overcome the gap with God that leads to failure in life, the gap with people around us, and the gap within ourselves through the love of God, the grace of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit that leads to holiness. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will fill it with fiery work and that everyone will reach the full stature of the Lord. - END -
