Sunday, March 16 || PARTIAL OBEDIENCE IS DISOBEDIENCE

Read : I Samuel 15: 1-9

“... To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

- I Samuel 15: 22

The Lord commanded Saul through Samuel to attack the Amalekites totally and destroy everything that belonged to them. Accordingly, Saul went in war against the Amalekites but he did not obey the Lord fully. He destroyed those cattle and sheep that were despised and weak, but he spared the best of the sheep and cattle, everything that was good. To Saul, partial obedience was good enough! He even boasted about it to Samuel saying, “I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” (I Samuel 15: 13) But to Samuel it was rebellions. He put it at the same level as witchcraft and idolatry.

Dear friends, the lesson we need to learn from this is of great importance, namely “partial obedience is disobedience.” Let us therefore examine ourselves, not by human standards which are always defective, but by the Word of God. Are we taking to heart His commandments and obeying them fully? Take for example, the matter of forgiving those who wrong us. Do we forgive them wholeheartedly or is it just a partial forgiveness? The Word of God instructs us to forgive one another, just as in Christ God forgave us. (Ephesians 4: 32) God wants our absolute obedience. We were once children of disobedience, but now we are children of light. I Peter I: 14 says, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.” Let us be careful to obey the Lord’s voice in all the decisions we make.