Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice

 For just as through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man, many will be set right forever. Now the Torah came in so that transgression might increase. But where sin increased, grace overflowed even more— so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness, to eternal life through Messiah Yeshua our Lord. Romans 5:19-21. TLV.

Monday Motivation: Greetings, Dear Friends! I hope you are perfect and continuing to pursue holiness, for God is holy and perfect and requires us to be holy and perfect because He has made us holy and righteous through the gift of His beloved Son Jesus, who is now our Lord and Savior. Amen.

 This month of December is proving to be a challenge since I have been traveling a lot lately. We have managed, though, to settle down with our family in Pretoria. We have not been in contact with most of our family members because of the lockdown, and I heard someone saying COVID19 is such an inconvenience, and I think they are right; there have been many adjustments we had to make since the arrival of this virus. I hope you are all safe in your respective countries. In my country, we have lost so many lives, and it’s heartbreaking. So, let us protect one another and keep safe during this festive season. 

Today I want to talk about the importance of obedience as we walk with God; because it is the foundation, we can build on if we desire to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. The enemy is formidable at work in deviating destinies and many desires to serve God with fear and trembling, not realizing that it’s all hidden in obedience.

Some are quite involved in various activities that have nothing to do with God’s purpose for their lives. They feel overwhelmed, drained, lacking motivation, and the drive to continue with the pursuit of fulfilling God’s mandate over their lives. They keep taking the detour and off ramping from the path God has laid before them.

God’s purpose for your life is never about only you, but about advancing the kingdom of God and impacting lives eternally. Just as through one man’s disobedience, sin entered the entire human, and through one man’s obedience, many received a right to be the children of God and obtain eternal life. Ro.5:19-21. It is still applicable to our walk with Christ. Many will benefit from your submission to God, and likewise, through disobedience, many will pay the price together with you. It could be your family, your organizations, etc.; the fact is obedience and disobedience affect not only you but also everyone who connects to your destiny. 

Learning obedience is vital in successful walking with God. There are so many stories in the bible that teaches about the importance of obeying God. We also understand that even our Lord Jesus had to learn obedience, meaning that it does not come naturally at times. You have to be conscious of the need to obey and working on perfecting obedience in your life until it comes naturally and leads you to your destination where you can fulfill God’s plan for your life, as mentioned in the scripture below.

 In the days of His life on earth, Yeshua offered up both prayers and pleas, with loud crying and tears, to the One able to save Him from death; and He was heard because of His reverence. Though He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. And once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him— called by God Kohen Gadol “according to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:7-10. TLV.

Obedience comes with different sets of tests, which will require you to stand firm in your faith. However, the enemy will also try harder to keep you from obeying God by subjecting you to tremendous pressure, which will force you to make a decision that will compromise your walk of obedience with God. That also happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3, the serpent puts Eve under pressure and cause her to doubt God and drove her husband to disobey God, and he also did the same with King Saul in 1 Samuel 15: 15- 23, as we read below.

And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not heard of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

So Samuel said: “Has 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 heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:15-23. NKJV.

This man’s one act of disobedience cost him the entire kingdom, meaning even his heir lost the potential of becoming the king. The same way Christ had to come here on earth to restore the mess Adam created, God also in this story appointed David to be the king of Israel and Judah. He tried to justify his actions as all of us do at times, but it did not change the fact that he did not do what God told him to do. The prophet Samuel had to remind him that “to obey is better than Sacrifice.”

This day, my question will be, what are you busy sacrificing instead of doing what God has told you to do. God will give you chances, but there will come a time when He hands the assignment to somebody else if you persist in disobedience.” what has God called you to do? Are you following the crowd’s voice or God’s voice? Have you taken detours from the original path place by God for your life? 

The ultimate goal of the enemy is to make to disobey God so you can forfeit your destiny. May I encourage you this day to be alert and vigilant and guard the things God has committed to your life! Knowing that obedience is better than sacrifice. Never take any form of decision under pressure. When facing making a decision and realizing that it comes with tremendous force, know it’s not from God, but from the enemy. 

May I encourage you to guard yourself against the fear of people, so you can make decisions that please God and align you with the purpose of God. May you take the time to verify the activities that keep you engage, which take most of your time. Some can be good, but if they do not align with God’s assignment in your life, take a pause and review the cause of your life and choose the right path; knowing every decision you make will not only affect you, but it has the potential to impact future generations. 

May you learn from the Lord Jesus; He left His heavenly glory, just for you and me so we could have a perfect loving relationship with the Father. When the time came for Him to die for all humanity, He chose obedience, doing His Father’s will. It was not easy, it cost Him everything, but He did not quit. The enemy did everything it could to cause to take a detour or off-ramp from the path, but He chose obedience and ran with endurance the race set before Him and conquered the grave. 

There is a victory that comes with obedience; while learning obedience may make you feel like a failure, in the end, there is a great reward. May you endure till the end. May you think of the future generations, the advancement of the kingdom of God. As we are wrapping up this year, may the act of obedience be among your new year’s resolutions and one of the core values that govern your Christian walk. 

I hope you found encouragement in this post. Thank you so much for stopping by. Happy Holidays and may all your festivities point others to Christ as we celebrate His birth this week. God loves you; He is with you and for you.