Excuses

²⁰ 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.”
²² 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. 

- 1 Samuel 15:20-22

     How often am I like Saul? I'm often making excuses to explain and justify how I have been doing what God wants me to do, instead of just doing what He says. I can't help but think that my excuses sound just as stupid as Saul's. Saul says, "I have brought back Agag...I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites." He doesn't even make sense with his statements anymore. Saul also gives us another valuable insight. He tells Samuel that he was making a sacrifice "to the LORD your God". "Your God"? Saul's lack of obedience has rendered God impersonal to him. Perhaps without even knowing it, Saul has grown miles away from God. Disobedience will do this in my life just as easily. God will seem like a powerful being I hear about in church and not the personal Savior He longs to be.

     Samuel's reprimand from the Lord is well known to a lot of Christians, but do we heed those words? God wants obedience. Sacrifice to Saul is worship to us. So God is telling us that simply obeying Him is more important than our Sunday worship. How often do I obey God? Sure, I go to church and worship and fellowship and stay involved, but none of that matters if I'm not obeying God in the day to day commands like Bible reading, praying, loving my neighbor and witnessing. Sadly, I believe that the sweet smell of my weekend worship often becomes a stench to God by my lack of obedience. May God give me the strength to simply obey.