when obedience means sacrifice, part I

At some point during our Christian walk, we’ll either hear or read Samuel’s haunting words to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (emphasis added): 

22 But Samuel replied,

When Samuel told Saul that “obedience is better than sacrifice,” he was referring to the fact that Saul was proud of plundering the Amalekites though God told him to completely destroy their kingdom and everything in it. Saul thought he was doing something admirable by offering a sacrifice of the best animals to the Lord, but in doing so, he was blatantly disobeying a command. 

There are many situations in which we want to give something to God, when He has told us to give that something up. For example, God may have prompted us to end a relationship with a friend or significant other. Yet, we decide to just stop spending as much time with this person rather than letting the person go completely. Though it may be healthy to become less dependent on the relationship, God’s command was to give it up completely. In this situation, we’ve made a sacrifice (reduced time spent with said person) rather than fully obeying (ending the relationship completely). 

God wants our full obedience because He sees things that we don’t see. In the case of the Amalekites, Saul also preserved the life of Agag, the Amalekite king. Centuries after Samuel rebuked Saul for his disobedience, Haman, a descendant of Agag, plotted to extinguish the Jews, Saul’s descendants and God’s chosen people, as outlined in Esther 3. 

God’s intention is never to hurt us when He calls us to obey a command. It’s always to protect us, guide us, and refine us. He loves us!

But, what about those moments when obeying God is a sacrifice to us? 

…to be continued