Thursday 8 November 2012

1 Samuel 15



"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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