1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV) 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.”
Obedience is better than sacrifice. There’s a lot more to this little phrase than most people realize.
God requires certain things of each of us. There are specific things that He asks or tells us to do or not to do.
Sometimes we get things a little mixed up in our heads and try to go one step better than God, thinking that maybe our way is a bit better than His.
And while our intentions might be good, this isn’t pleasing to God, even if our way requires a sacrifice of some kind.
God wants our obedience, not our sacrifice.
Back in the days of Samuel and David, they would literally sacrifice an animal in honor of God, as a form of worship. We don’t do this any longer, but sometimes we will sacrifice other things in an effort to show God how loyal we are.
But this is exactly the kind of thing that God doesn’t want. It’s not that He doesn’t like us to sacrifice, it’s just that He prefers us to obey Him, rather than to add our own little twist into what He’s told us to do.
So if God is telling us to do something, we need to do it! We shouldn’t add to it or take away from it.
We just need to do it His way. After all, it’s a pretty sure bet that He knows more than we do.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-315-0902
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