Obedience better than Sacrafice 1 Samuel 15:22

Ever been the position to do something for God and find out that you are actually doing it to please self. All to often we start off with the mind to do something with the highest intentions and by the time its over we have put ourselves and our desires in front of the higher ideal of pleasing God.

In 1 Samuel 15, Saul finds this out the hard way. He was given the task of wiping out a particular people and went to do just that. However we find that Saul in his zeal to please God, wound up doing something that was only pleasing to himself. Saul’s problem was one of not only selfishness but just plain old disobedience. He was disobedient to God’s direct order.1 Sam 15:3  “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”  Saul fell short of this command.

Then comes the justification, 1 Sam15:15   “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”  Saul blamed someone else for his disobedience.

God’s reply through Samuel is marvelous, 1 Sam 15:22 “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

If you only remember on thing take this with you, “To obey is better than sacrifice…” Please God by doing what He requires, rather than what we want or think He wants. Don’t get caught in the sin of self…

Til later,

Gary B.