Obeying out of Love Trumps Sacrificing out of Love
[22] 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 listen than the fat of rams. [23] For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:22–23 ESV
This was said by Samuel, a prophet, to Saul, the first king of Israel. God gave Saul instructions and Saul did what God said. Sort of. Rather than doing it the specific way God asked, Saul did it his own way and would have eventually made it to the same result, maybe. So why does it matter that Saul didn’t do it God’s way?
God really does have plans
God has reasons for things that are beyond our understanding. His plans for doing things are as infinitely complex as the entire world at any one given moment, even for every moment in time since the creation of the world. Many times when God is specific about the method or the way something is to be done, there are more reasons involved than just the thing getting done.
If I ask my kids to pick up all of the sticks in the back yard, I might not tell them why I need them all picked up. What if instead of picking them up, they arrange all of the sticks in the back yard to be a very well done mosaic portrait of me? They love me a lot, they showed it by doing this amazing thing to honor me. Why would I not be overjoyed at what they did?
Then, after hours of work that I thought involved cleaning up the sticks but they thought it was making a portrait of their dad, I come outside with an inflatable swimming pool. I can’t put the pool down because there are sticks everywhere. I might be flattered that they did this, but it really messes up part of my plan!
Our Motives and Our Choices
There are a lot of things that come up in our day to day life where we have the choice to do what God wants us to do, or to do the thing that seems the most pious or Christian. It might be the kind thing to do to give the homeless man a back of McDonald’s food, but what if God is calling you to sit down and share that meal with him? It might be very good for the church and good for your self-confidence to give $100,000 to the church for church planting, but not if you are fighting the conviction that God wants you to quit your job and go plant a church yourself in Burma.
To obey God is better than any sacrifice. Jesus already did them both! Now we obey Him out of love to participate with Him in getting His work done. As you make decisions today, lift your motives to the Lord. He loves you a ton, and whether His plan involves a swimming pool or not, His plans always turn out great.