Word for the Day April 8
By: Evang. Cascille Hammack
"To obey is better than sacrifice..."
1 Samuel 15:22
Obeying God's Word and the leading He puts in your heart by the Holy
Spirit is better than any outward form of worship, service or personal sacrifice. Saul is an example of someone who
put his own perception of what was right above Biblical revelation. God expressed grief over Saul's rebellion.
1 Sam. 15:35 says, "...The Lord was grieved that He had made Saul king over Israel." "Grieved" in
Hebrew in this passage is "nahum" which expresses God's deep emotion and sorrow at Saul's rebellion. Because
Saul had rebelled against God's will, he was given over to demonic influence (1 Sam. 16:14).
This is the sin that will mark the apostasy before Jesus returns. 2 Thes. 2:10-12 describes this disregard for the Word
and the truth of God in the last days, "...They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For
this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have
not believed the truth but delighted in wickedness."
Hebrews 3:13 warns, "But encourage one another
daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:18
declares further, "And to whom did God swear that they would never enter His rest if not those who disobeyed? So
we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." Disobedience is a result of unbelief.
The possibility of the believer missing God's rest is illustrated by the Israelites who failed to enter the promised
land. Though they had seen God's mighty works, they were disobedient because they would not believe His promises or
heed His warnings. As a result they were destroyed in the desert and did not enter the promised land. Even though
their initial experiences with God were blessed, they failed to persevere and threw aside their only hope which was God and
as a result perished. Hebrews 4:7 declares, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."