I Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.”
People don’t care much for obedience; many don’t care much for sacrifice either, but they will sacrifice to keep from being obedient. Samuel told Saul it’s better to obey. We need to stop offering God substitutes for what he really wants.
God had Samuel anoint Saul king over Israel. In this portion of the scripture, Saul was to destroy the Amalekites, man, woman, boy, girl, animals—everything. Yet Saul decided to let the king live and kept the best animals for sacrifices. Samuel confronted Saul. “Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.” He had not completely obeyed. Samuel asked Saul if God was delighted in the sacrifice more than his obedience. Obedience is submission, not partially or whether it’s convenient. Being disobedient is scary. Verse 23 says “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” We know we are to obey and not to do so is to rebel.
Obedience is what God desires. It wasn’t the religious sacrifice God wanted. Disobedience resulted in the need of a sacrifice. God accepted sacrifices under the law, but obedience is what he desired. The sacrificial system went away when the Messiah came.
Obedience is the key to a life of joy. There is no reason to be dried up and dull. We can have a love relationship with God. We love him because he first loved us. He gave himself for us in obedience to the Father. Obedience produces joy.
Obedience is the basis of spiritual authority and leadership. Saul had authority as the king, but because of his disobedience it was taken away. Disobedience will separate us from God. Those in leadership need to set the example. We can’t expect others to obey when we won’t ourselves.
Why do you obey? There are different motives.
- Do you do it with a “what’s in it for me” attitude? You want the reward. This is the wrong reason.
- Do you obey because you’re afraid of being punished? Do you have a fear of hell? We should. We all need a vision of hell, but to obey because you’re afraid of punishment is a lack of faith.
- Do you obey because you have no other choice? Do you have a self righteous attitude about yourself and judgmental attitude about others? The Pharisees obeyed because that was all they could do, but Jesus told them it was only outward; inside they were as dead men’s bones full of hypocrisy and iniquity. We’ll never pull the wool over God’s eyes.
Obedience should happen simply because we love the Lord. He died for us while we were still sinners. He didn’t wait. When we fall in love with Jesus, we’ll have the will to obey. Love always obeys whole heartedly. Love obeys without questions. We may not understand it all. We don’t have to. Love makes His way our way. Love obeys consistently. Love never fails.
Luke 6:46 says “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Don’t we all need a revival of obedience.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 