But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.

Good morning! Here is today’s word of blessings for you.
1 Samuel 15:20-26

20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”

Today’s title is “But I did obey the Lord”

One of the most dreadful things as a believer is that all the works that we thought we did for God is not accepted by God. It seems that some people were indeed facing such dreadful denial from the Lord. We see such dreadful instances of Lord’s denial of the people who were presumed to believe that they were working for the Lord. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23). This verse always terrifies me and warns me of such self-deceiving work for the Lord. Many religious leaders at the time of the Lord were living in such self-deception. Many in our times also live in such a way. This is a real and serious problem for many I believe. We see a real-life example of such self-centered and self-deceiving religion in Saul. Saul justifies what he did as Samuel rebuked him for not obeying the word of the Lord. Saul says, “But I did obey the Lord. I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Again here, Saul was not completely false. There were indeed some semblance of obeying the Lord. But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” God is never pleased with the outward appearance of obedience such as burnt offerings and sacrifices when we are devoid of truly obedient heart. So above all else, guard our heart, for everything we do flows from it. That was why the Lord Jesus so bluntly criticized the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. How genuinely and earnestly are you trusting and serving the Lord? Let us all examine our hearts day by day before lest we meet the blunt of the Lord.