When we consider buying something we usually consider the price first. We buy something if we think that the price is right. However, there are some things where the price may be hidden and we end up paying more for it later on in our lives. This is usually what happens when we disobey God. The price of disobedience is very costly. This is what happened to King Saul, the first King of Israel. King Saul’s disobedience cost him his kingship, his life and the lives of his three sons.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 Then Samuel said, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and presumption is like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
1. God wants us to pursue holiness above all other attributes. God ordered King Saul to completely annihilate the Amalekites, including their plunder of livestock. But King Saul disobeyed by keeping their king and some of the sheep alive. God cannot tolerate sin. He wanted all evil influences to be completely wiped out. Above all else God wants us to pursue holiness. 1 Peter 1:14-16: “14 Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, 15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, 16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”
2. Partial obedience is disobedience. King Saul made excuses for his disobedience. He blamed his soldiers for keeping the sheep alive. Saul said that they will ultimately be used as a sacrifice to God. The prophet Samuel responded by saying that obedience is better than sacrifice. God wants our obedience more than our sacrifices/money/etc. We cannot deceive ourselves by thinking that our offering to God will cover up for our disobedience to God. The best gift we can give to God is our obedience.
3. We must fear God more than we fear people. King Saul ultimately revealed the reason why he kept the sheep alive. 1 Sam. 15:244 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded and what you said as well. For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes.” All throughout the life of Saul, he had the pattern of fearing men more than fearing God. This is what made King David different from him. King David is known to be a man after God’s own heart because he feared God more than men. Imagine how much God can work in our own lives, when we start to fear God more than we fear men. As Dwight L. Moody said: “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”
～Min. David Or 柯啟洋傳道～