There have been moments in my life where I have wondered and even asked, “God, what do you want from me?” At times, this prayer and question has come from a place of truly wanting to seek the Lord and other times it has come from a place of frustration, wondering if what I was doing was even mattering. At the heart of most believers is a desire to serve the Lord. The difficulty is not in the desire but in the detail. “What is God looking for from me?”
There was a famous king in Israel who for a season did an incredible job. He established the first form of government, a strong military, cities and boundaries, legislation and law. He was strong, he was tall, he was good looking, he was a leader, His name was Saul. He served the Lord diligently, until one day he didn’t.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 NIV
22 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. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Wow. This is a powerful story and strong rebuke. Obedience is better than sacrifice. This makes it simple for us. The Lord is looking for our full, committed obedience to Him. There is a right way to serve the Lord and there is a wrong way and it’s not based on what we give but rather what He asks. God is looking for our obedience.
Here’s the counter-part to this revelation. Obeying the Lord, will always cost us something. God does often ask for sacrifice. Jesus even said to follow Him we’ll have to “take up our cross daily.” The Lord is looking for sacrificial obedience. It’s an obedience that is devout, that is true, that is costly.
Obeying the Lord, will always cost us something.
Saul’s mistake was not in the cost of the sacrifice but it was in the neglect of God’s specific direction. A personal costly sacrifice can not make up for the cost of our disobedience, our sin. If that were the case, then the death of Jesus would not have been necessary. We could just serve or give our way out of our sin.
What God is looking for is sacrificial obedience. Do we trust God enough to follow Him completely, even if it cost us something? That’s the question we must answer to know if we are truly living the life God has called us to.
Do we trust God enough to follow Him completely, even if it cost us something?