Guest blogger Eric Lockhart

My name is Eric Lockhart. I have known Chad since our college days at Williams Baptist College. A little while ago, Chad was a guest blogger on my blog (soujourner) and he asked me to return the favor.. It is my pleasure to do so.

"The Worth of Obedience"

“Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey......But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.” (1 Samuel 15:3,9 ESV)

There is sometimes quite a bit I don’t fully understand about Bible passages. I know that this order from the Lord had to do with justness and creating holiness (which makes me even more thankful for the grace, mercy, and holiness that comes through Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection!). Yet, I don’t really get it. It still makes me cringe to consider it. And there are many questions to be asked in relation to this, but we must be careful not to miss the point of the chapter, by being distracted by that which is not the point.

God had given the marching orders to Saul. Saul knew exactly what he was to do. In fact, the orders are crystal clear. Yet, Saul and his men did not listen. They did not obey. Why? Perhaps there was a little bit of looking out for the guy who sits in the same seat as you do when it came to Agag - we’re not really told. Yet, if this is the case, it may begin to show the pride of Saul’s heart. Did he count the king of the people as being of more worth than the people? When it comes to the calves and sheep, we know they were kept because they were of quality. They were the best. They had worth.

And, apparently, Saul had good intentions: “Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” (1 Samuel 15:15 ESV) He had spared the sheep and calves to use as worship unto the Lord. That is great intentions. The problem is in Saul’s understanding of what the Lord values.

Saul spared the animals because he thought they were worthy. He did not count them as worthless. What the Lord counted as having worth was obedience. He did not need Saul to set aside that which Saul thought would be honoring to God, He only asked Saul to obey. Obedience is of great worth - greater worth than what we might count as worth:
“And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.+
(1 Samuel 15:22 ESV)

In our lives, do we have the “if’s” statements? Do we say things like: I could serve or worship God better if (fill in the blank) occurred? Do we ever mutter the phrase: “Well, yes that is what the Bible says, but (fill in the blank)? Even if we dare not mutter those phrases, do we think it? Do our lives proclaim them? If so, perhaps we have not quite yet learned the worth of obedience.