1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord a 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 to the fat of rams.
In olden times,the Israelites used burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord as atonement for sins as well as for thanksgiving. On the eve of one particular battle though, the Lord instructed King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions. However when the Prophet Samuel questioned Saul about it, he answered that the enemy was destroyed , but the people had taken sheep and oxen and other things which should also have been destroyed and offered them as sacrifices to God. That’s when Samuel berated him, then informed him that because he had rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord had also rejected him as King. And though Saul wept and prayed and repented it made no difference. He lost the kingdom simply because he did not follow God’s instructions. And it was not even a complicated or difficult task; destroy everything. What part of that didn’t Saul understand? Friends, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and although He’s a very generous and forgiving God, there are times when He makes us pay dearly for our disobedience. And the sad part is that most of the time His instructions are not very difficult to follow, but like spoilt children, we just like to have our own way. So let’s try and follow His instructions nuh, else, like Saul at some stage we’ll lose something very valuable to us, and no amount of begging, pleading and praying will restore it. Like the old people say, ‘if yuh doh hear, yuh going to feel!’ Much LOVE…with lots of obedience. It’s the essence of God.
In olden times,the Israelites used burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord as atonement for sins as well as for thanksgiving. On the eve of one particular battle though, the Lord instructed King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions. However when the Prophet Samuel questioned Saul about it, he answered that the enemy was destroyed , but the people had taken sheep and oxen and other things which should also have been destroyed and offered them as sacrifices to God. That’s when Samuel berated him, then informed him that because he had rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord had also rejected him as King. And though Saul wept and prayed and repented it made no difference. He lost the kingdom simply because he did not follow God’s instructions. And it was not even a complicated or difficult task; destroy everything. What part of that didn’t Saul understand? Friends, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and although He’s a very generous and forgiving God, there are times when He makes us pay dearly for our disobedience. And the sad part is that most of the time His instructions are not very difficult to follow, but like spoilt children, we just like to have our own way. So let’s try and follow His instructions nuh, else, like Saul at some stage we’ll lose something very valuable to us, and no amount of begging, pleading and praying will restore it. Like the old people say, ‘if yuh doh hear, yuh going to feel!’ Much LOVE…with lots of obedience. It’s the essence of God.
SCRIP-BITS 