Love and obedience
But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” Hosea 6:22-23
You might have heard someone said to the person he or she loves these words, “You have the key to my heart.” What this meant is that there is something that one could do to the other that will make him or her happy and feel loved. As a child of God because we decided to receive Him in our lives as Lord and Savior should provide us the motivation to discover and know what will please God. There is nothing greater for a believer than to know that he or she delights in his relationship with God. From the text, God is pleased when His children are willing to listen to His voice. We proved that we listened because we obeyed Him. This is why we spend time with Him in prayer and reading His word, we worship and devote time to fellowship with Him and with other believers, and we serve Him because we love Him. As the Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples, so must we. “Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me” (John 14:23-24). From the text, Hosea declared that “obedience is better than sacrifice.” Nothing breaks the heart of God than to see His children rebelling against Him. God does not reject sacrifice but the act should come out from our heart that wants to worship Him. Our knowledge of God should lead us to faithfulness and love toward Him. “Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land” (Hosea 4:1). Growing in His knowledge will help us continue to discover His ways and what He wants from our lives. Once you find delight in obeying Him, the more your love for God grows. You realize that what He asks you to do is what will benefit you and bring glory to His Name. Your acts of obedience to God become a testimony to the world that you are committed to your faith. God can see your heart and He looks at your motives. Once He sees that everything is an expression of your delight to God, He promised to provide you the desires of your heart. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you” (Psalms 37:4-5).
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com