Obedience vs. Self Sacrifice

  So recently I have been doing daily devotionals from “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, and the Lord really spoke to me from the June 8 lesson.  So I will just share it with you all.

 

  The portion of the devotional that really stuck out to me was the idea of obedience verses self-sacrifice.  Oswald Chambers says “The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment.”  He sighted 1 Samuel 15:22 which states “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”

 

  I decided to dive into 1 Samuel 15 a little bit deeper and God revealed a lot to me through it.  In chapter 15, I read the story of Saul and his attack on the Amalekites.  Saul was asked to complete a task and he did not complete it to Gods exact instructions.  He was asked to destroy ALL of the Amalekites, women, children, men, animals…ALL of it!  Instead of destroying everything as God asked him to do, he kept the king alive, and held onto the best livestock.  He said that he kept the livestock so that he could sacrifice them to God, but I believe that his intentions were to keep them alive so that he could grasp them as trophies.  In 15:22 the word says that Saul went to Mount Carmel to set up a monument to himself, which shows the true intentions behind his choices in battle.  The consequence of his actions was that “…the Lord regretted He had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:35).

 

  So here is a man who is “obeying” Gods command but is really just setting up a self sacrificing situation where in the end he would be glorified.  And it made me think…how often have I heard a calling from God and instead of truly obeying his command, I create another situation where it looks like I am sacrificing something and in the end it is simply to bring glory to myself and not God.  I got into a discussion with my Kenya teammate Katie Hildebrand about something very similar to this.  Even though something that we are doing can be deemed good in the eyes of the world, and even God, if I am not following Gods will for my life in that event…then I am not really doing what I am supposed to.

 

  So as I continue to walk in this new life of complete discipleship, I have to always examine myself and see where my true intentions lie.  Am I behaving like Saul, and choosing to “kind-of” follow Gods commands and glorify myself, or am I truly following Gods call for my life.  Afterall, as Theologia Germanica states: “Sin is nothing more than choosing something other than what God chooses.”

 

  I will leave you with one last quote from Oswald Chambers:

 

  “If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea.  Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened.”