"Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice..."

It is so easy for us to get distracted doing things for God, even good and right things, instead of doing what God tells us to do. God criticizes King Saul for this in I Samuel 15:22. God had commanded King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Instead he kept the choice sheep and other cattle as well as King Agag alive. Samuel the prophet criticizes and speaks to Saul about this.

1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams!

As a result of not obeying, Saul is rejected from being King and David ends up taking his place. Saul had had many failings in his life, both personally and as King of Israel, and this seems to be the clincher. The next verse states,

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idol-worship. Because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, He has also rejected you from being king!

How often are we willing to "make sacrifices", to give up our own "personal time" or belongings "for God" instead of doing what He has told us to do. Nothing that we have is our own. Not even our time. It has been given by God and belongs to Him. It is a good thing to spend time with God, to work in the church and be involved, to help support ministry, but if God has told us something and we are doing "good things" in the church or our personal life instead of what He has told us to do, isn't that rebellion as it says here in I Samuel? Isn't it iniquity and idol (self) worship? "to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams!"

So where do we go from here? What do you/i/we do now?

Image from pandiyan used under cc license.