26/08/2025
EVANGEL DAILY MEAL DEVOTIONAL
TUESDAY 26TH AUGUST, 2025
TOPIC:
THE FORCE OF OBEDIENCE
TEXT:
1 Samuel 15
KEY VERSE:
"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" (1 Samuel 15:22).
MESSAGE:
Obedience is the means whereby we show the earnestness of our desire to do God's will. If God instructs us to do something, and we hesitate over obeying, we endanger our standing in the grace of God. Obedience is the means whereby we demonstrate the devotion of our desire to do God's will. The spirit of obedience gives more joy to God than anything else on earth.
God wants us to read His Word; but it is more important to Him that we obey it. As we open the Bible each day, we should pray not only for understanding, but also for the desire to obey.
In today's text, Saul, we see that Saul simply believed he could make better decisions based on his knowledge of war than on God's knowledge of obedience. When Samuel arrived, he was shocked to see two things: alive animals and an alive King Agag. And because of this, God had said he was greatly disappointed with Saul. Israel's first king had chosen his world over God's world. The Amalekites were not the only ones who dishonored God as he worked to lead his people. Saul, too, had worked against God and tried to take advantage for his own gain.
Hearing and doing must go hand-in-hand. When Saul of Tarsus heard Jesus speaking to him on the road to Damascus, he asked the Lord, "what do you want me to do?" - Acts 9:6. That's a good question for all of us to ask whenever we read the Bible or hear it read. The great solution to unfaithfulness in our walk with God is obedience to the Holy Spirit; if we really want to know who Jesus is, we must be willing to obey His words. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22 ESV)
Controlling Thought:
Obedience
