obey your conscience

Today in the One Year Bible, we read about a man obeying his conscience. We read this in 1 Samuel 24:1-25:44. Saul is chasing David, trying to kill him. He goes into a cave to use the restroom, and David is hiding in that very cave. His men tell him to go kill Saul, since obviously God has put Saul into his hands.

And David DOES sneak up on Saul and cuts off part of his robe. But then his conscience bothers him about doing even THAT. So he tells his men to leave Saul alone and let him live. In response, Saul promises not to kill David.

That teaches us a lesson that we should pay attention to today. God wants us to listen to our conscience. That's one way He speaks to us. Now, it's possible for your conscience to become warped, where it tells you to do things you shouldn't, and tells you not to do things that you should. That's why, as Stephen Covey's quote above tells us, we need to educate our conscience. Obviously reading the Bible will help form our conscience properly. Also reading other good literature. And learning what the church teaches. God has been speaking to His children through the Holy Spirit for over 2000 years, and the church has written down what He's said. So it is wise for us to learn what He's taught us.

So let's work to form our conscience, and then let's obey them.

God, thanks for giving us a conscience. Please help us to educate it correctly.