Obedience better than Sacrifice

I am sure all of us are familiar with the term Obedience is better than Sacrifice. The whole concept was taken from the Bible and can be found in 1 Samuel 15. The Lord told King Saul through prophet Samuel to destroy the Amalekites. This was because of what they did to the people of Israel years before, when they came up from Egypt.

The Lord told Saul to “destroy everything” - He didn’t mince words there, He never does. He said to destroy it all. He told Saul to spare nothing so Saul went out and gathered his army and headed off to Amalek to ambush the city. The Lord gave King Saul a clear instruction. He still give clear instruction for our life too today through His Word.

King Saul started out on the right track. He was following everything God told him to do, but then something happened. Saul began to get his own ideas of what would be better. He destroyed the Amalekites but did spared something. He spared spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs - everything that was good.

God was not happy with Saul. In fact, in verse 11, He tells Samuel, “I am grieved that I have made Saul King.” Samuel went to Saul to tell him how he had basically disappointed God and that he hadn’t obeyed what God told him to do. Saul tried desperately to justify it with his own thinking. Infact Saul sounded so spiritual by tell Samuel "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions." (1 Samuel 15:13)."

Then when Samuel confronts him, saying that Saul failed to carry out the Lord's instructions, he denies it. "But I did obey the Lord" (1 Samuel 15:20), he insists. He even attempts to turn his disobedience into religious service - "The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal (1 Samuel 15:21)."

Was God pleased with the good "fruits" that Saul spared? After all, Saul "spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God".

Even though Saul's disobedience was for good — "to sacrifice unto the LORD" — God was not pleased! Why? Saul utterly destroyed the "vile and refuse" and spared "the good" — for the Lord! God clearly says "to obey is better than sacrifice". God is more pleased with our obedience than ANY fruit our disobedience to the Word of God could produce!

Obedience honors God. Sincere, from the heart, obedience. Repentance glorifies God. This is His delight. The fruit of the cross of Jesus Christ is a life of principled obedience to God now in our hearts, and one day, in glory, perfectly. The sense of God's delight in obedience is precious. Therefore, for Him to say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant," oh, what words for mere mortals to hear. Oh, for the grace, then, for each day to live a life of obedience to Him. Christ has saved us so that we might show forth our praise and thanks. And nothing so expresses praise to God as obedience.

Have a blessed weekend.