🌿 Devotional: Obedience is Better

In Isaiah 11, the prophet was sent by God with a message for “Rebellious Judah.” In verse 11, the prophet begins with a question from the Lord to His people, “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” He goes on to share that the Lord was tired of the burnt offerings and blood of animals being sacrificed to Him. Why was that though? It is true that sacrifices must be done in faith, but there is also another requirement.

The Lord has no desire for a sacrifice that is done just because. He takes no pleasure in us doing things for Him simply because it is the norm and because everyone is doing it. The bible says in Psalm 24:4 that we must have “clean hands and pure hearts” to stand in the Lord’s holy place. Isaiah continued to share the words of the Lord with Judah, saying that He hated their religious festivals and meetings. In Isaiah 1:13, the Lord told his people to “Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts” and that all their religious celebrations were “meaningless and false!” What was the problem? All these things were the norm for these people. This is what they learned to do. 

The problem the Lord had with all this is mentioned in verse 16 where the Lord urged his people to give up their sinful and evil ways. “Get your sins out of my sight,” he said to them. Just like with Cain in the book of Genesis, the Lord provided a way out of their sin. He told them that if they would obey Him, then he would clean their sins and make them white as snow. The Lord exclaimed that if they would just obey Him, they would have provision! That, my friends, is the missing ingredient! Obedience! In 1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel says that “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” The Lord desires our obedience to His commands. Before we give anything else, we must first ensure that we have done what He has commanded us to do. Of course there are times where we mess up and we fall short, but we should ask the Lord for forgiveness with a sincere heart and get back into His will. In Jeremiah 7:22-23, God said that when He delivered the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus), it was not sacrifices and burnt offerings He wanted. He desired for them to obey Him, to do everything as he said it. If they did that, He promised that all would be well for them. If you are unsure of what the Lord has commanded, dig into your bible and get to know His desires. Also, pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you what he has for you to do. 

Application

How can this be applied to daily life? Live a life that is pleasing to the Lord in all areas. Pray to find out what areas you need to make a change in if you are unsure and make the changes. Do not continue your routine of going to church services, conferences, fasting, and praying fancy prayers just because it is what you are used to doing. Get back to seeking the Lord and go into his presence with clean hands and a pure heart. When the people of Judah continued these practices with a sinful life, the Lord’s response in Isaiah 1:15 was, “When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” Have mercy! Ensure that you have the right heart posture when you go into the presence of the Lord. Sin cannot be in His presence. He desires for you to spend time with him, but sin separates you from Him. 

Prayer

Let us pray, Lord, we thank you for this day. Thank you for all that you have done for us and all that you are doing. We ask your forgiveness for every sin we have committed against you. We pray that you will cleanse us right now. We pray that you would create a pure heart and clean hands within us. We desire for our prayers to reach your ears. Help us to turn away from our sinful ways and live according to your will. We thank you for your forgiveness and your loving nature. We thank you that you remember our sins no more and that in Jesus we have been made new. It is only because of you that we live and breathe and we know we cannot live without you. We desire to worship you with our lives on a daily basis. In Jesus name, Amen.