Obeying vs. Sacrificing

Obedience is the key to real faith.  Chuck Colson

Faith is not an instinct. It certainly is not a feeling - feelings don't help much when you're in the lions' den or hanging on a wooden Cross. Faith is not inferred from the happy way things work. It is an act of will, a choice, based on the unbreakable Word of a God who cannot lie, and who showed us what love and obedience and sacrifice mean, in the person of Jesus Christ.  Elisabeth Elliot

In 1 Samuel 15 we find an example of obeying vs. sacrificing.  Saul is told by Samuel that the Lord sent him to anoint Saul as king over His people.  Samuel tells Saul to heed the words of the Lord.  The Lord wanted to punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, so Samuel told Saul to utterly destroy everything that Amalek had; every man, woman, child, ox, sheep, camel and donkey.  The problem is Saul decided to keep what was good like the best sheep, oxen and lambs.

So we find that the Lord sent a directive to Saul through Samuel, but Saul decided he knew better and didn’t follow what the Lord told him to do.  When it came time to appoint a king the Lord told Samuel, “I greatly regret that I set up Saul as king, for he turn back from following Me and has not followed My commandments.”  When Samuel went to see Saul, Saul proclaimed, “Blessed are you of the Lord!  I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”

Samuel responded to Saul by saying, “What then is the bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

I love Saul’s response.  Instead of using the word “We” he uses “They”.  “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 

Samuel responds by asking Saul, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

Saul argued that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord but he threw “the people” under the bus.  He blamed the people for keeping the best of the livestock as a sacrifice to the Lord. What did Saul’s disobedience cost him?  He would have been king over God’s people, but his mistake in disobeying God cost him the kingdom.

What is the most important thing we can learn from this story?  Obedience to God is more important than sacrifice.  Any time we disobey God, we rebel against what He asks us to do.  When we rebel there will be a cost associated with that rebellion. 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times in my life when I have rebelled against You.  I chose to do something instead of being obedient to You. Please forgive me for those times that I rebelled and draw me closer to you.  Help me to be obedient to Your instruction.  

      

Scripture: So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23