Better Than Sacrifice

Better Than Sacrifice

Word of the day is ‘OBEDIENCE’.

Isaiah 1:19 says, ‘If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;’

You must declare - ‘I choose obedience over convenience’.

Your submission invites supernatural blessings. Hence, the key word in today’s sermon is; obedience.

The verse Isaiah 1:19 was written in the context of the times. This was a time of unrest, and spiritual rebellion. People were almost in competition with God and rebelled against him. God is not asking for more sacrifices from his people, but obedience. God was looking for a willing heart; showing inner surrender out of love and respect. Submission is inward and obedience is outward.

James 4:7 says, ‘Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’

Submitting yourselves to God completely without a question, is the true inner surrender. Sometimes people can seem like they are obedient, but it does not please God, if it does not come with inner submission. Supernatural blessing flows when submission and obedience flows, when willingness and action comes together.

Obedience is the gateway to supernatural blessings. God does not bless rebellion. He says, those who rebel will live in the arid and deserted land. God does not bless even partial surrender. God is looking for full and complete obedience from us with a surrendered heart. Where obedience is present, blessings and provisions flow naturally. When you are waiting at a train station, your first sight is that of an engine, followed by the bogies. With obedience and complete surrender, bogies of blessings will come into your life.

In the scriptures, Isaiah never said that rain will come upon the land, if people make more sacrifices, or even pray more. Instead what the Lord was looking for, was the people to let go of their rebellion and obey the Lord with a willing heart. Obedience is not loss, it’s alignment with God’s order. Obedience often comes before understanding. Many at times, when we are expected to follow the Lord’s commands, it is confusing for us, even mind boggling sometimes.  Many Christians even ask God for an explanation before they act on it.  Abraham was blessed with everything and the Lord asked him to leave his riches to a land that the Lord will take him to. In such a situation, Abraham could have asked God to give him a route map before setting out for the journey. Instead, Abraham willingly obeyed the Lord.

But in the end when you follow through, there is a divine order, a divine purpose to his plans. Biblical obedience is such that, ‘Lord, I will obey even when I don’t fully understand.’ When Peter was asked to cast the net into the sea, he could have had his reasons to not obey, as he was fishing in the same spot for a while and failed at catching any prey. But Peter obeyed the Lord with a willing heart and ended up witnessing the catch of a lifetime.

Our attitude must be that we believe in you and your Word, hence we will obey your commands. Supernatural living is trusting God’s wisdom over logic. It is also following his voice above convenience. Many of us might be believers and for the sake of our community we keep our two legs on two boats, which in turn could make us do things that are not in alignment with the Word to appease the people around us.

Supernatural living is acting before outcomes are visible. We should have an attitude where we may not understand the what, why and how, but we do it anyway because we love the Lord and we believe in his Word. Delayed obedience often becomes disobedience. Many of them may not heed the Lord's words immediately and act on it which is equivalent to disobedience.

The biblical principle is that obedience is better than sacrifice.

1 Samuel 15:22 says, ‘But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.’

Obedience above religious activities. Submission over spiritual appearance. This is what the Lord is looking at. He is looking at our hearts and our attitudes towards his commandments. Faithfulness over noise.

Obedience protects the future.

Not caused by sin alone, but by ignoring Lord’s instructions. You may not murder or indulge in ungodly practices, but ignoring the Lord’s instruction is a sin in itself. This causes hindrance for you to go forward in your life. Obedience protects your future, by protecting your peace. It protects your destiny and prevents unnecessary pain. Obedience will save you from paths you never needed to walk.

Going back to the story of Abraham; what we see is immediate obedience when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham did not wait for God’s plans to sound logical, or profitable. He immediately obeyed the Lord’s commands with a willing heart and earned the title, “Father of Faith”.

This does not mean to say that God’s plans will be one without struggles, it just means that if you follow the path laid out by him, he will be with you every step of the way, helping you through every struggle. For instance, when we drive, we come across red light signals that make us pause and wait for the traffic to clear. This signal is not meant to delay you, but meant to protect you. In the same way God has put certain control systems in our lives to make sure that we are protected at all times.