More Than Words
“What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” ~1 Samuel 15:22
My psychology professor in college once asked, “Is it better to be told you are loved or to feel like you are loved?” I knew at once that the former was best because after all, how do you know you are loved if no one tells you with their words? …Wow. Obviously, at twenty years old, I had it all figured out.
The problem with words is that they can be hollow and empty if they aren’t accompanied by meaningful actions.
In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel had given Saul a message from the Lord telling him to proceed with his war against the Amalekites but to destroy every living thing afterwards. Saul then went to war but kept the best livestock as well as the king. When confronted about his failure to do as he was commanded, Saul claimed that he only saved these things so that he might sacrifice them to God. However, God knew differently. He could see the truth of Saul’s heart in his actions, and God knew that Saul’s words and promises were empty because Saul refused to obey.
The theme of obedience being synonymous with love continues into the New Testament. Over and over in John we are told that our love for God must be apparent in our actions. He even tells us that the very definition of loving God is to obey his commands (1 John 5:3). In chapter fourteen, John records Jesus telling a crowd, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” and “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me…” and “Those who love me will keep my word…” (15, 21, 23 NSRV). If we truly love our Savior, we will do what He tells us to do.
However, how do we know what God wants from us today? He wants the same thing he wanted from his fledgling nation of Israelites —for us to love Him with all that we have and to love others. It’s that simple. When we embrace these commandments and choose to be obedient, God will guide us, “giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Phil 3:12 NLT).
Saul was not fulfilling his duty as the divinely appointed ruler of Israel, and his actions repeatedly showed that although he claimed to be a follower of God, ultimately, he was a follower of Saul. We are the divinely appointed children of God, sent with the duty to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded us” (Matt 28:19-20 NIV). Love God, and love others in a way that teaches them to do the same.