“And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.” (I Samuel 15:22).
Saul was the King of Israel. He was commanded by God to slay all the Amalekites and all of their cattle. He had not done so! He had slain all of the Amalekites except the King and slayed all of the cattle except the best of the oxen and the best of the sheep.
When called into account concerning this disobedience Samuel questioned Saul as to why he did not obey completely God’s command to slay all of the Amalekites, all of the cattle, and all of the sheep.
At first, Saul lied! Samuel asked what is that bleating? Saul said I’ve saved the best sheep and the best oxen to offer as a sacrifice! Verse twenty-two says, “…to obey is better than sacrifice…” There is not a more important word to the child of God than the word “obedience.”
Someone said to Assistant Pastor to Dr. Lee Roberson J. R. Faulkner, “You ought to obey God not Dr. Roberson!” His reply was “I cannot obey God without obeying Dr. Roberson.”
The Scripture says in I Corinthians “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” As long as Dr. Roberson was following Christ then J. R. Faulkner must follow Dr. Roberson. If Dr. Roberson violated his following of Jesus Christ then J. R. Faulkner still must be obedient, but now it is to Jesus Christ instead of Dr. Roberson.
“And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.” (Exodus 4: 15-16).
God said to Moses I’m going to give Aaron to you as your assistant. He shall be your spokesman and you shall be to him instead of God. Wow, how about those apples! Ha! As long as Moses followed God Aaron had no choice but to follow Moses.
I can hear some teen saying, “I’m going to obey God rather than my father!” That is not what God said. The Scripture says clearly in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents, in the Lord: for this is right.” The Scripture says “in the Lord.”
If your parents ask you to drink, smoke, or violate any Scriptural lifestyle that is a different issue. Even the law will protect you from that. However, to use this as an excuse not to obey dad is wrong. Your parents are “God’s deputies” in your life.
According to God in your obeying your parents you are actually obeying God. A tremendous word is this word “obedience.” Obedience is the vehicle that will carry you to the destination of “success” in any area of life!
Obedience is the most important thing to teach a child. Obedience is the distinguishing mark of spirituality. I’m for tears, shouting, praising God, and lifting up holy hands, but I said, “Obedience is THE distinguishing mark of spirituality.
Obedience is the measuring rod of Christian growth. It is the most infallible proof of sincere love. It is the most noble of all human virtues!
Obedience is the cure for procrastination, a vanisher of doubt, and the purest of rivers that flow from the fount of Calvary through the banks of love to paths of service. Obedience is the first law that God ever gave to man in the Garden of Eden. Obedience is the bloodhound that always finds the will of God for ones life. Obedience is the forerunner of all of God’s blessings. Obedience is the signpost that points to real peace. Obedience is the source of every success.
Obedience is the biggest debt that you owe yourself. Obedience is the continuation of happiness that is born in faith.
The Bible says in Isaiah 1:19, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:”
“If ye love me keep my commandments.” (John 14:15).
The secret to the first miracle of our Lord was obedience. Mary said, “Whatsoever he saith unto you do it.” There is a good motto or a good life’s verse! Our theme song ought to be…
I’ll go where you want me to go dear Lord
Oer mount oer plain oer sea
I’ll say what you want me to say dear Lord
I’ll be what you want me to be
Only to be what he wants be to be
Every moment of every day
Yielded completely to Jesus alone
Every step of this pilgrim way
Just to be clay in the potters’ hand
Ready to do what his word commands
Only to be what he wants me to be
Every moment of every day
There is only one thing that summarizes those thirty years of a perfect sinless life of Jesus and it is with these words, “He was subject unto them.”
Obedience is more important in school than grades. I know parents who will take their children to poorer schools to they can earn better grades.
Obedience is more important in work than in salary. Obedience is more important in business than profit, in the ministry than preaching, in government than authority, in love than beauty, in worship than tears, and in spirituality than cathedrals.
It is more important that students be obedient in school than a good athlete. It is more important that you be obedient in school than being in the National Honor Society. It is more important than being Salutatorian, or Valedictorian, or Suma Cum Laude.
Obedience is the only way you can measure the spirituality of an individual. You will never do anything harder than to obey.
Obedience is the doxology that God loves to hear, the fragrant incense God loves to smell, is the shewbread God loves to taste, the embrace God delights to feel, the offering God wants to receive, and the adornment God likes to see.
God will not tell you what you do not know about his will until you do what you do about his will. You are not a good child because you can play the piano well. You are a good child because you obey mom and dad.
Young people are not right with God if mom and dad say make up your bed and you do not do it! You may sing in the best singing groups in the church, but you are not right with God if you disobey mom and dad.
God would rather you go soul winning than shout, rather you study than weep, rather you witness than tingle, and rather you tithe than worship. Disobedience caused the entire human race to fall.
If you want to see how important it is then look at the leaves of autumn that clutter your yard. They are there because of disobedience. If you want to see how important obedience is and how bad disobedience is just look at the barren trees in the wintertime and you will see. If you want to see how important obedience is just look at the hospitals and see those hundreds of rooms there filled with suffering patients. They are there because man decided to disobey God!
Look at the cemeteries! The tombstones raise their head as testimonials to disobedience. When man disobeyed God the whole human race fell. You wonder how important obedience is and how bad disobedience is just listening to a serpents’ hiss, the storms’ wind, the wail, the moans, and the sobs of fallen humanity!
Everything that is bad in this world is caused by disobedience and everything that is good in this world is caused by man’s obedience.
I’m afraid we cheer too much for athletes and not enough for obedience. Our problem is we punish for disobedience, but do not praise enough for obedience.
There is no way you can be a good Christian unless you obey. You might be the best soul winner in the teen department or in the college, but if you go home or back to your college dorm and disobey you are not right with God.
You might memorize more Scripture than anyone in the school or college, but if you disobey you are not a good Christian. Check the Bible lists of immorality and how Go injects in there “…disobedient to parents…”
Look at the burning city of Sodom with a whole city leveled all because of disobedience. Look at the woman turned into a pillar of salt. Look at the widow Naomi looking down at the grave of her husband and their two sons’ graves all because of disobedience. Look at a defeated Jonah in the belly of a whale because of disobedience. Look at a dying Moses unable to go into the Promise land because of disobedience.
Look at a wandering nation for forty years in a wilderness all because of disobedience. Look at a dying Achan being stoned to death, along with his wife and children, all because of disobedience. The source of every problem you have in your life is found in an act of disobedience.
All of us must arrive at the place in our lives when we say it’s not what we want, but what he wants, and it is not where we want to be but where he wants us to be.
How can this happen? God has delegated certain people on earth who represent him on earth. Hold it I’m not saying calling them gods! They merely represent offices that God has created and we obey God by obeying those in delegated offices.
- A child obeys God by obeying mom and dad
- A student obeys God by obeying their teachers
- A church member obeys God by obeying the pastor
- A citizen obeys God by obeying the police
- A laborer obeys God by obeying his foreman
All of course is dependent upon it being within the principle of “in the Lord”.