As I was reading my Bible in I Samuel 15, It tells where King Saul was told by Samuel to lead his troops and destroy the nation of Amalek. So Saul gathered the troops and did just that. They were to not only destroy the army, but to annihilate everyone including all of the livestock. So, they did this except they kept the best of the livestock to sacrifice to God which they started to do. When Samuel heard this, he wept for he saw instantly the wrong in Saul’s actions. As Samuel confronted Saul he pointed out what God’s original message was which Saul thought he had done completely. Saving the best of the livestock for sacrifice to God was, he thought, a good thing. Samuel’s response was very pointed: “Has the Lord as much pleasure in your burnt offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. He is much more interested in your listening to him than in your offering the fat of rams to him.“

I have heard this statement many times in life. As I read it this morning it tied so directly to what God’s Spirit has been nudging me of late. Today we don’t offer blood sacrifices as the people of the Old Testament were instructed to do. God wants my obedience more than anything else. Responding to His Spirit’s nudges in obedience IS the sacrifice God wants.