WHAT PRICE?

1 Samuel 15:19-23
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

The Lord Rejects Saul

19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”

20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. 21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”


At what price … at what point … would you compromise your faith?

For Saul, it was the spoils of war … livestock … that was his price. Livestock was the contemporary measure of wealth. For wealth, Saul disobeyed the Lord.

Is your compromise point wealth … unethical business practices … being a work-a-holic … withholding your tithe? Maybe yours is power … misusing your position of authority and leadership. What about sex … a secret affair or any immoral relationship … ‘friends with benefits’ outside of marriage?

At what price will you disobey God and end up like Saul … rejected? Obedience is pleasing to the LORD!