Oct. 9, 2024
Sacrifice vs Obedience
What does the phrase "obedience is better than sacrifice" mean in this episode?
Today's episode, titled "Sacrifice versus Obedience," explores the profound difference between simply sacrificing and fully obeying God's commands. Drawing from personal childhood memories and the biblical story of Saul, we discuss how often we try to negotiate with God instead of following His clear directions. Join us as we reflect on the power of obedience and its transformative impact on our lives.
Tune in for your five-minute daily dose of heaven and be inspired to walk in faith and strength. Let's get started!
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Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:21.678
You're listening to the my morning Devotional podcast, episode 1113. Today's Devo is called sacrifice versus obedience. Hey there. We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.
00:00:21.814 --> 00:01:16.867
That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the my morning devotional podcast. Well, happy Wednesday. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whenever you are listening to this devotional, my name is Gabby. Back at you with a just our week of obedience. We've talked about obedience a lot today and all of these, these stories and these teachings, it brought me back to when I was younger and my mom, my wonderful mother of four children. Poor girl. We pray for her, but she, she made it through. She made it out alive. But I remember when we were younger, as kids, we used to come in from school or come from church, and there'd be just four of us, and we were all so messy. And right when we'd walk in from school, we'd be exhausted. We'd be dirty and smelly and messy. And all the moms that are listening, you're getting flashbacks right now, or you're in this season, it will get better.
00:01:17.043 --> 00:02:23.840
But we would walk in from school, and the first thing we would do is we throw all of our book bags and our shoes and our jackets all by the bottom of the stairs. And then we would, like, go outside and play, or we'd start doing homework, and those belongings would sit there for hours and hours. And I remember my mom would come to us and she'd say, guys, please, I'm going to ask you, take your shoes upstairs. Can you make sure before you play, take your stuff upstairs. And then we'd be like, yeah, mom, we're going to do it, but we're going to do it after we do this. And so my mom would kind of give us some grace, and then an hour later, she'd be like, guys, you said you were going to do it after you played that game and you never did it. And again, it would start, can you take your shoes again? Can you take your shoes? And we try to negotiate. We tried to argue with it, and then it pushed my mom to the brink where she would say, take your shoes up. And we'd go, why, mom? And it would end with the ultimate, because I said so. It's the worst. When your mom pulled out the because I said, so it's like you couldn't, you couldn't negotiate anymore. You couldn't get around that. It was like, boom, it was done.
00:02:23.919 --> 00:04:30.271
She declared it, she made it happen, and now there is no way around it. You know, there's a story in the Bible that really reminds me of the. Because I said so. And it's when Saul, in the Bible, he was king at the time. And God tells Saul to go into this land. And when he goes into this land, he says, devote everything you see to destruction. Well, Saul, being the kind of man that he was, he felt like there were certain things he could devote to destruction, but there were certain things that he wasn't going to devote to destruction. And what happens is he saves certain things. He doesn't kill. He doesn't destroy the things that God said to destroy. He wasn't obedient to what God asked. So what ends up happening is the prophet at the time finds out about this, and then he's having this moment with Saul and he's saying, you know, God told you to do this. Why didn't you do this? And Saul starts to negotiate, like us kids after school. He started to negotiate with Samuel, which ultimately was negotiating with God on why he couldn't be obedient, why he couldn't do the thing that God simply asked, to the point where he actually says, no, I was going to take these things that God told me to devote to destruction. I was going to take them and I was actually going to sacrifice them. And he almost starts to gloat or starts to boast about how he was going to sacrifice these things. And he starts to make it seem like he's holier than thou. I was going to do this sacrifice before God. And this is where we pick up in one Samuel 1522, Samuel replied, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice. You see, I love this story because it reminds me of when I was a child and I wouldn't pick up my things and I wouldn't, you know, I didn't want to pick up my things and I would start to negotiate with my mom and I would start to give her all of the reasons why. I simply just didn't want to obey her. I didn't want to do the thing that was asked of me.
00:04:30.456 --> 00:05:23.250
And that just has stuck out to me because I think of all the times that I've done that with the Lord, you know, the story with Saul, I think of the times that I was like, Saul, where I thought, lord, no, let me save. You know, there was a season. I shared it with you guys. There was a relationship that the Lord called me to give up. And I remember there were months where I started to negotiate with God. You know, Lord, I can't give this up because this means this to me, or I can't give this up because I'm going to use this God to glorify you. You know, there's so many times that we will negotiate with the Lord in. In trying to keep the thing or trying to keep doing the thing that he asked us for, that. That he's asking us to give up to the point where we will negotiate and say, no, God, we have a better plan. I don't know about you, but there have been moments where I have heard the Lord tell me something, and I've been convinced that my way is better than his.
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:57.612
When God knows. God sees what we want. God sees the desires, and he's still asking us to be obedient. There are things that he is telling us right now, and I can just feel the presence even in this. This moment. I'm just believing that there are people that are having things that need to be devoted to destruction in their life right now that God is asking you to destroy. I really do believe that there are some of this community and the listeners you listening that you might be in a season where God is asking you to destroy some things in your life.
00:05:57.795 --> 00:06:01.040
And I would encourage you, let's not negotiate.
00:06:01.339 --> 00:06:37.810
Let's not try to say, well, God, I'll have a better way, or, God, I'm going to keep this thing and I'm going to use it as a testimony. No, follow what the Lord's asking you to do. If God's asking you to remove that thing from your life, remove it. If God's asking you to sacrifice that thing, take it to the altar and sacrifice it. If God's asking you to start something and to maybe leave a comfortability that you're in and start a new job or start a new endeavor, jump into it fully, give that to the Lord. Let's not be negotiators. Let's not try to sacrifice something. Let's start when God says obey.
00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:52.505
When he asks us to obedient. Let's be. When he asks us to obey, let's be obedient. Because sacrifice, in this context, it is better to obey than to sacrifice. So, Lord, I just pray for everybody listening.
00:06:52.658 --> 00:06:56.225
I pray that, Lord, if there are things that we need to devote to destruction.
00:06:56.338 --> 00:07:33.512
If there are things that we need to sacrifice, to give up, to walk away from, or things we need to begin, that you would start to expose it in our lives right now. God, whatever needs to be destroyed in our lives, whether it's a mindset, whether it's a heart issue, whether it's a relationship, friends maybe, that we've surrounded ourselves with habits that we've created. Whatever it is, Lord, I pray that you would help us be obedient to devoting it to destruction. We can walk away from it and become new creations in Christ, become better for it. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it.
00:07:33.576 --> 00:07:48.516
Your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals and empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.
00:07:48.627 --> 00:07:53.259
Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:21.678
You're listening to the my morning Devotional podcast, episode 1113. Today's Devo is called sacrifice versus obedience. Hey there. We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.
00:00:21.814 --> 00:01:16.867
That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the my morning devotional podcast. Well, happy Wednesday. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whenever you are listening to this devotional, my name is Gabby. Back at you with a just our week of obedience. We've talked about obedience a lot today and all of these, these stories and these teachings, it brought me back to when I was younger and my mom, my wonderful mother of four children. Poor girl. We pray for her, but she, she made it through. She made it out alive. But I remember when we were younger, as kids, we used to come in from school or come from church, and there'd be just four of us, and we were all so messy. And right when we'd walk in from school, we'd be exhausted. We'd be dirty and smelly and messy. And all the moms that are listening, you're getting flashbacks right now, or you're in this season, it will get better.
00:01:17.043 --> 00:02:23.840
But we would walk in from school, and the first thing we would do is we throw all of our book bags and our shoes and our jackets all by the bottom of the stairs. And then we would, like, go outside and play, or we'd start doing homework, and those belongings would sit there for hours and hours. And I remember my mom would come to us and she'd say, guys, please, I'm going to ask you, take your shoes upstairs. Can you make sure before you play, take your stuff upstairs. And then we'd be like, yeah, mom, we're going to do it, but we're going to do it after we do this. And so my mom would kind of give us some grace, and then an hour later, she'd be like, guys, you said you were going to do it after you played that game and you never did it. And again, it would start, can you take your shoes again? Can you take your shoes? And we try to negotiate. We tried to argue with it, and then it pushed my mom to the brink where she would say, take your shoes up. And we'd go, why, mom? And it would end with the ultimate, because I said so. It's the worst. When your mom pulled out the because I said, so it's like you couldn't, you couldn't negotiate anymore. You couldn't get around that. It was like, boom, it was done.
00:02:23.919 --> 00:04:30.271
She declared it, she made it happen, and now there is no way around it. You know, there's a story in the Bible that really reminds me of the. Because I said so. And it's when Saul, in the Bible, he was king at the time. And God tells Saul to go into this land. And when he goes into this land, he says, devote everything you see to destruction. Well, Saul, being the kind of man that he was, he felt like there were certain things he could devote to destruction, but there were certain things that he wasn't going to devote to destruction. And what happens is he saves certain things. He doesn't kill. He doesn't destroy the things that God said to destroy. He wasn't obedient to what God asked. So what ends up happening is the prophet at the time finds out about this, and then he's having this moment with Saul and he's saying, you know, God told you to do this. Why didn't you do this? And Saul starts to negotiate, like us kids after school. He started to negotiate with Samuel, which ultimately was negotiating with God on why he couldn't be obedient, why he couldn't do the thing that God simply asked, to the point where he actually says, no, I was going to take these things that God told me to devote to destruction. I was going to take them and I was actually going to sacrifice them. And he almost starts to gloat or starts to boast about how he was going to sacrifice these things. And he starts to make it seem like he's holier than thou. I was going to do this sacrifice before God. And this is where we pick up in one Samuel 1522, Samuel replied, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice. You see, I love this story because it reminds me of when I was a child and I wouldn't pick up my things and I wouldn't, you know, I didn't want to pick up my things and I would start to negotiate with my mom and I would start to give her all of the reasons why. I simply just didn't want to obey her. I didn't want to do the thing that was asked of me.
00:04:30.456 --> 00:05:23.250
And that just has stuck out to me because I think of all the times that I've done that with the Lord, you know, the story with Saul, I think of the times that I was like, Saul, where I thought, lord, no, let me save. You know, there was a season. I shared it with you guys. There was a relationship that the Lord called me to give up. And I remember there were months where I started to negotiate with God. You know, Lord, I can't give this up because this means this to me, or I can't give this up because I'm going to use this God to glorify you. You know, there's so many times that we will negotiate with the Lord in. In trying to keep the thing or trying to keep doing the thing that he asked us for, that. That he's asking us to give up to the point where we will negotiate and say, no, God, we have a better plan. I don't know about you, but there have been moments where I have heard the Lord tell me something, and I've been convinced that my way is better than his.
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:57.612
When God knows. God sees what we want. God sees the desires, and he's still asking us to be obedient. There are things that he is telling us right now, and I can just feel the presence even in this. This moment. I'm just believing that there are people that are having things that need to be devoted to destruction in their life right now that God is asking you to destroy. I really do believe that there are some of this community and the listeners you listening that you might be in a season where God is asking you to destroy some things in your life.
00:05:57.795 --> 00:06:01.040
And I would encourage you, let's not negotiate.
00:06:01.339 --> 00:06:37.810
Let's not try to say, well, God, I'll have a better way, or, God, I'm going to keep this thing and I'm going to use it as a testimony. No, follow what the Lord's asking you to do. If God's asking you to remove that thing from your life, remove it. If God's asking you to sacrifice that thing, take it to the altar and sacrifice it. If God's asking you to start something and to maybe leave a comfortability that you're in and start a new job or start a new endeavor, jump into it fully, give that to the Lord. Let's not be negotiators. Let's not try to sacrifice something. Let's start when God says obey.
00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:52.505
When he asks us to obedient. Let's be. When he asks us to obey, let's be obedient. Because sacrifice, in this context, it is better to obey than to sacrifice. So, Lord, I just pray for everybody listening.
00:06:52.658 --> 00:06:56.225
I pray that, Lord, if there are things that we need to devote to destruction.
00:06:56.338 --> 00:07:33.512
If there are things that we need to sacrifice, to give up, to walk away from, or things we need to begin, that you would start to expose it in our lives right now. God, whatever needs to be destroyed in our lives, whether it's a mindset, whether it's a heart issue, whether it's a relationship, friends maybe, that we've surrounded ourselves with habits that we've created. Whatever it is, Lord, I pray that you would help us be obedient to devoting it to destruction. We can walk away from it and become new creations in Christ, become better for it. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it.
00:07:33.576 --> 00:07:48.516
Your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals and empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.
00:07:48.627 --> 00:07:53.259
Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.