I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

1 Samuel 15. “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'” (Verses 22-23). God requires obedience not sacrifices. How does that sentence translate in today’s vernacular? God requires obedience not repentance. It was simple enough, God makes Saul king. He gives him rules and regulations that he needed to obey. Only Saul does things his way, neglecting God’s rules. But still expects God to bless him, still expects God to keep His part of the bargain, even though Saul himself was not keeping his part. When he realizes that God is serious, he asks for forgiveness, but that is not what God wants. What He wants is obedience. I am not saying that God won’t forgive when we ask, what I am saying is that forgiveness needs to be sincere. Saul didn’t ask for forgiveness because he felt bad about disobeying God, he asked forgiveness because he didn’t want to lose what he had… the power of being king. We do the same, for fear of losing what we have we cry out to God, asking Him to forgive us and just bless us one more time. For that we repent, but our hearts are not in it. We are not sincere, and God rejects our plea. Why? He requires OBEDIENCE, not sacrifice. Obedience asks forgiveness with a heart that says, “I will NEVER do that again Lord.”