OBEDIENCE

By Pastor S Mawoyo.

The scripture above were words of the prophet Samuel to king Saul, who had returned from defeating the Amalekites and he and his solders were happy that they had executed the commandment of God. However, God was not pleased with what king Saul did, God had instructed king Saul to utterly destroy all the people of the Amalekites and their animals but Saul brought back the best of their sheep and cattle  to sacrifice to God:

1. From this we learn that God is more interested in us obeying his word than the sacrifices we may want to render to him

2. Saul was rejected for disregarding the word of God, he was told to destroy everything but he spared somethings as he was scared of his solders who had advised him that they should take the best of the sheep and cattle. He disobeyed God in order to please his solders and they gave an excuse of wanting to sacrifice the animals to God.

3. When we came to God, did we get rid of our old way of life, did we really leave worship of ancestral spirits – there are some believers who will tell you that though we worship Jesus we should not forget chivanhu chedu, some in the church vanorova makuva kana kunobika doro kumamisha, some go kuMapostori or even kuN’anga when things are very tight for them.

4. What is it in your life that you have not utterly destroyed which God commands to be destroyed? Are you sure you have left kurova makuwa (appeasing spirits of the dead) totally, are you sure you have left lies totally, have you left your old friends that used to influence you in doing the wrong things, have you left that ungodly relationship or there are certain things you do not want to get rid of that are toxic to your relationship with God.

5. God is not interested in what we do in church if we are not obedient to his word. At one point Jesus rebuked the Pharisees about tithing because they were doing this to the point of even tithing spices but neglecting the heavier matters of the law which include righteousness justice and holiness.

Its not about the preaching, its not about the singing, its not about the administration, its not about gathering that matters, its not about the giving, but its obedience to the word of God that gives value to all the other things we do for God

Our prayer should be that we have a heart that obeys God and His word