"Samuel said, " Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice," 1 Sam 15:22
The young King Saul was given a charge by God through the prophet Samuel to utterly destroy His enemy the Amelikites and their king, Agag. Though he carried out part of the task, he kept the king and some of the choicest animals alive. It was tradition to preserve the monarch and his thought was to sacrifice the animals to Yahweh. When confronted by Samuel, he even blamed his people for the decision.
The problem (for Saul) was that God meant what he said. Saul made the mistake so many of us make while trying to live this Christian life. We tend to make alright the things we want to do regardless of what thus saith the Lord. Tragically, we substitute that which we believe God will be pleased with in place of what He has commanded. This ultimately cost Saul his crown, his comfort, his happiness and his life.
Beloved let us take our example from our Savior, who himself, "being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil 2:8. If Christ was obedient to the point of giving up his life, not for his own sake, but for ours, how could we be so deluded to think that God would have any interest whatsoever in our rationalized substitutions?
Sacrifice is good, but since we serve a God who means what He says and says what He means, obedience is better. Know that with us or without us individually, the accomplishment of His will is a certainty.
In Revival,
Lee
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