I’ve always been fascinated with the story of King Saul’s disobedience, found in 1 Samuel 15. While you may not know the whole story, my guess is that you’ve probably heard a famous verse that comes from the story. It’s found in verse 22:
But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22 NIV, emphasis mine)
This was the Lord’s strong rebuke of the king through the prophet Samuel, and it came because the king hadn’t fully obeyed the command of the Lord to totally destroy the enemy.
Notice what Saul did instead:
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. (1 Samuel 15:9 NIV, emphasis mine)
They only completely destroyed what made sense to destroy: the despised and weak things. But they spared what they considered the best people and cattle.
Disobedience often plays out in our minds before it shows up in our lives. We tend to hear what God says to us, and then filter the command through our understanding of what seems reasonable. But obedience works in ways that often don’t make sense to us because God isn’t after our minds, but our hearts.
He wants more than a head nod of agreement. He desires a heart bowed in submission.
No matter what. And so, He tells a king to trust, or a father to sacrifice his promised son, or His own Son to trust that His obedience to death on the cross will fulfill the promise of life for the dead.
None of it makes sense, and yet, through the lens of obedience, we can see that it could never be any other way.
An obedient heart will always be greater than a sacrificing hand. Today, give the Father what He truly desires: a “yes” when only a “no” makes sense.
Photo by Julian Lozano on Unsplash
