Thursday 5th November
Accolade number 2 – Obedience
‘…and have kept My word…’(Rev 3:8)
As we saw in yesterday’s thought for the day, Jesus promised to ‘open a door’ for the believers in Philadelphia. More than this, the verses tell us clearly why Jesus is moved to use the keys He has in his hands to open the door for this group of believers. There are three things that prompt the hand of Christ. The first we looked at yesterday – They had ‘little power’! Secondly He commends them for their obedience. “You have kept My word”. I wonder if this can be said about us. Are we faithfully trying to follow all that God has revealed to us?
Obedience and the blessings that follow are a major theme in the whole of scripture. A great example of this is the story recorded by Samuel in respect of King Saul. Samuels’s words have become famous. “To obey is better than sacrifice”. Let’s take a quick look at obedience then, as recounted by Samuel. (1Sam15).
Saul had heard the word of the Lord, but thought he had a better idea. He was supposed to destroy the Amalekites completely, taking no plunder, but instead he spared the best of the sheep and cattle “to sacrifice to the Lord.” This might seem like a noble gesture on Saul’s part, wanting to sacrifice to the Lord… so why does Samuel make such a big deal out of this? Why is obedience so much better than sacrifice?
It strikes me that King Saul is looking for an ‘end to justify the means’! Saul is trying to find a way to bargain with God. His acquisition of the best sheep and cattle can be justified on the basis that at least some of them are to be used as a sacrifice to the Lord. Saul is trying hard to make wrong look like right, to make his unwillingness to listen to the Lord and obey Him in some way acceptable. He’s trying to bargain with God by using a sacrificial system ordained by God to cover up his own failure to faithfully follow all that God had commanded. I call that cheeky!
Having said that I am sure that we all find ourselves in the same shoes as Saul, trying to justify ourselves even though we haven’t done what we should have done. We can even sound very convincing, especially when we use some ‘super spiritual’ reason for our action. A woman or a man can make a case for divorce and re-marriage on the basis that God wants them to be loved properly by their spouse and their new partner does this so much better than the last! Most of us look for an ‘end to justify a means’.
Prayer: Lord help us to live in obedience not sacrifice. Show us what a pleasure it is to do you will and not our own. Amen