“And 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 listen than the fat of rams.’” (1 Samuel 15.22).¹

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God gave clear instructions for Saul to devote to destruction all the Amalekites for their opposition to His people (1 Sam. 15.2-3). Unfortunately, Saul did not obey God’s word (8-9). The prophet Samuel asked, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” (14) “Saul said, “‘They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction’” (15).

The problem is God did not say “spare some sheep and oxen to sacrifice to me.” Instead, He commanded them to devote to destruction all that had life; to completely eradicate the Amalekites from the face of this earth for punishment of their sins (18)*. Therefore, God punished Saul that day by ultimately taking away his kingdom (26, 28).

While God enjoys fragrant offerings and sacrifices to Him, He does not tolerate disobedience to His word. One cannot choose to disobey part of a command to try and please Him with part of another command. In other words, the end does not justify the means or “to obey is better than sacrifice.”

If you’re interested in learning more about fully obeying God, then e-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.

*For additional study of why a loving God would devote whole nations to destruction under the Old Testament please click here.

"O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalm 97.10, ESV)¹

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¹Any Bible student knows that God hates sin. The apostle John taught "that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1.5, ESV). The Psalmist declared, "...you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness..." (Psalm 45.7, ESV) and "Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way" (Psalm 119.104, ESV). Additionally, God requires those who claim allegiance to Him to "Hate evil, and love good...." (Amos 5.15, ESV). Since Christ died on the cross because of sin, one can be absolutely sure that sin is in complete opposition to everything God is, and stands for. Peter wrote, "...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2.24, ESV). Notice the connection: Jesus suffered and died for our sins (1 Peter 3.18) so that we would die to sin and live for righteousness (Romans 6). In other words, we choose to abhor what is evil and love what is good (see Rom. 12.9). The truth is clear; we can only love Jesus if we hate sin.

The Bible teaches us that we cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6.24); nor can we claim allegiance to both sin and righteousness (Rom. 6.16-18). The question then is, who is your master? Who do you love? Jesus or this world? If you're interested in learning how to love Jesus over sin email Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.

John 13.34 ESV “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”¹

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¹It has always been the case that man was to love his neighbor as himself (see Lev. 19.18). Therefore, when Jesus commanded His followers to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22.39), this was not some new idea. However, there was a new command that had not been practiced before. This new command was to love one another as Christ loved them. Jesus demonstrated true love when He laid down His life for all of mankind (1 John 4.8-11, 19). Therefore, it can be said that He gave love a new meaning (see also John 15.12-13; 1 John 3.16).

Do you want to learn more about the love of Christ? E-mail Bryan Garlock or text 903.308.4905.