SACRIFICE!

Some truths are more difficult to establish than others. One of the most challenging lessons of my life to learn was that praying more and reading the Bible more doesn’t necessarily mean knowing God more or being right with him. Though praying and reading are vitally important, doing them as a work to gain righteousness or to feel right about myself will not produce right standing with God.

Sometimes it is easier to do religious works like giving God money or serving in the church than to obey what he’s telling us to do. In first Samuel 15, the Bible records King Saul making a grave mistake when he chose to sacrifice to God instead of obeying what God, through the prophet Samuel, had told him to do!

But Samuel replied: “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 (NIV84)

I don’t want to try to appease God by giving him something instead of obeying what he has told me to do! God wants us to believe him enough to step out and do what he has said, even if it is uncomfortable or seems scary. Remember, the children of Israel were unable to enter the promised land because of their unbelief which resulted in fear. More than anything, God wants you to believe him and do what he has told you to do! Genuinely trusting God will bring more significant results than anything else you can do. When God says something– he means it, and he expects you to believe it! As you meditate on the things of God today, ask God to reveal to you what he wants you to do, and then choose to do it with all your heart! Never forget this truth; obedience is better than…

SACRIFICE!