Click Here – 1 Samuel 14: 24-52.
Rash promises and vows and decisions almost always lead to trouble. As the men of Israel start to pursue the Philistines, Saul tells them that if any of them eat before evening they will be in trouble. I’m sure his intention was good. Maybe he didn’t want his men to slow down to eat or maybe he just wanted them to show their dedication to the cause.
Whatever his intentions, the results were not good in two ways. First, his men were sluggish from the lack of food and unable to do the task of chasing the Philistines as well as they should. Second, his son Jonathan, the one who had started this rout of the Philistines with his courageous one man attack, he was the one who ate some honey in the forest during the battle. Jonathan was willing to pay the price. He was honest as well, stating that the whole not eating thing was really a dumb idea.
Once again we see a major difference between Saul and Jonathan. Jonathan patiently trusts in the LORD and speaks the truth, while Saul makes rash decisions and ill conceived statements and doesn’t even keep his vow. Who is the more Godly leader between the two of them? Maybe we can all learn a few lessons on leadership from this passage.