"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."
{1 Samuel 15:22} (NIV1984)
The first
record in the Bible of a human receiving favour from God, is the story of Abel
and his offering. He offered a sacrifice that was acceptable to God. As we read
through the Bible we see that offering an acceptable sacrifice is the central
part of worshiping God. So we start to think that offering a sacrifice is the
key to God’s heart. Then we start to think if God wants sacrifices and if we
give Him sacrifices, He will be happy with us despite how we behave. It is a
subtle shift in our thinking that happens without us even realizing.
It
takes a story like that of Saul to remind us of the simple truth that
sacrifices only became necessary because of disobedience. It seems simple logic
to realize that God values obedience higher than sacrifice. But we don’t follow
logic. No, we become deceived and think that God is fine with our disobedience
as long as we give Him a cut, or do something special for Him. Is Saul so
different from us? We get money through dishonesty and give a portion to
God-thinking we are pleasing Him. We disobey in some obvious way and instead of
confession and resting in the finished work of our Lord, we attempt to ‘buy’
God off through some sort of sacrifice, maybe singing louder in church. We are
not that much different than Saul. But thanks be to God, that His Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, pleased His Father by obeying Him, and then He gave His life as a
sacrifice for me. Thank God that Jesus was completely different then Saul. May
we have His attitude towards our Father today, “Here I am, I have come to do
your will.” (Heb. 10:9)
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