We all have hopes and dreams, it’s what makes life worth living. For some their hopes and dreams are relational, for others they are financial, and for some they are philanthropic. As a follower of Jesus, I hope to one day present myself before God having accomplished the goal of leading people to Jesus. But no matter what your hopes and dreams are, before you can ever realize them you’ll first have to deal with the temptation of taking a shortcut. 

In the context of geography, taking a shortcut is usually a good thing but not such a good idea in the important areas of your life. It’s not a good idea to take a shortcut with your health, your relationships, finances or any area that is important to you. A shortcut is simply choosing to take the path of least resistance. It’s our attempt to do the right thing the wrong way or at the wrong time. 

In the Bible there are many stories of men and women who chose to take a short cut. One of them was a man named Saul. Saul was the first King of Israel who one day found himself surrounded by the armies of the Philistines. So King Saul went to consult with Samuel the Prophet as ordered by God. Samuel told King Saul, I will go and ask God how you should proceed, but you must wait seven days until I return. As the days went by the situation became critical and the armies of Israel began to scatter. On the beginning of the seventh day Samuel had not yet returned so Saul decided to go to battle without God’s blessing; he went and presented the burnt offering before God as required before going to battle. This task was supposed to be done by the prophet not the King. As soon as he finished presenting the sacrifice and before the end of the seventh day the Prophet Samuel returned and said to King Saul:  

“What have you done?” – 1 Samuel 13:11 NIV

“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” – 1 Samuel 13:13-14 NIV

God eventually allowed Israel to defeat the Philistines, but because King Saul decided to take a shortcut, to do the right thing the wrong way and at the wrong time, King Saul ended up winning the battle but losing the kingdom. 

The moral of this story is that for every good thing, blessing, and promise of God there will be a shortcut. But by taking the shortcut you always lose more than what you will gain.