Just As Bad

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.” (NKJV)

Religious practices and sacrifices without obedience are meaningless before God. He is not interested in sacrifices from a disobedient heart and life. God would rather have obedience to Him than sacrifices. All the sacrifices in the world does not mean a thing if our hearts are not surrendered to God in obedience to His will. At times, we sacrifice to God out of guilt for our disobedience. It is not the sacrifice we should be looking at it. It is the obedience. God wants obedience over sacrifice. Here is what the Message Bible says, “Do you think all God wants are sacrifices—empty rituals just for show?He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.” Plain and simple. Obedience, obedience, obedience!

Not doing what God tells us is just as bad as if we were into witchcraft. When we are stubborn we are no better off than those who worship idols. Disobedience and pride are something that God is not pleased with in our lives. God says our disobedience is just as bad as witchcraft. He says our pride is just as bad as idolatry. This shows how serious God takes disobedience and pride. As believers we would never dream of worshiping idols or participating in witchcraft. However, not doing what God tells us is far worse than fooling around in the occult. Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with our dead ancestors.(MSG) So we have to be careful to obey God with a willing heart. We are under grace but it is time we stop taking our disobedience and pride so lightly. It is time to get serious about Him!  1Samuel 15:22,23