SYNOPSIS: When we substitute duty, service, or sacrifice for a love relationship with God, it will always lead to disobedience, and therefore it will lead away from divine blessing. But when we obey God out of love for who he is and gratitude for what he has done, then God will pour out his blessings upon us in immeasurable ways. What matters most is our heart—that is what God wants.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Samuel 15:22

Then 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.”

Unfortunately for King Saul, this sad account of his fall from God’s favor was one of the lowest low points of his life and the beginning of the end of his once-promising rule over Israel. Fortunately for us, reading this story with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, his example brings us to the bottom line of what it means to walk in intimacy with God:

God wants our hearts more than anything else!

When we substitute duty, service, or sacrifice, as Saul did, for a love relationship with God, it will always lead to disobedience, and therefore it will lead away from divine blessing. But when we obey God out of love for who he is and gratitude for what he has done, then God will pour out his blessings upon us in immeasurable ways. Everything that we hope our duty, service, and sacrifice will bring will be, at best, a poor substitute for walking in loving obedience to God. At worst, the very things we thought would bring God’s pleasure upon us will turn around and cause it to be forfeited.

Do you want a revival of God’s favor in your life? Begin to obey him. Don’t obey merely out of duty—that is, you obey because it is required for divine blessing. Don’t merely obey out of fear—that is, you obey because you know punishment awaits if you don’t. Do not obey from some sort of manipulative motive—that is, you obey in hopes of maneuvering God to give you what you want. Obey him out of love. Obey him because you are grateful for all that he has done. Obey because obedience is simply the only option for you. Obey—early and often, from the heart, through your head, with your hands, and a revival of blessing will flow to you.

A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God. (Charles Finney)

The best sacrifice that you can bring before God is your obedience. Let me say it again: Offer your obedience to God, early and often, with the right heart and from the purest of motives, and watch what God will do for you.

The obedient heart is the one in which God takes the greatest delight.

“ The golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters is not intellect, but obedience. —OSWALD CHAMBERS