Obedience
Jonah ran away and spent three days inside a fish. What about us? Someone warns that something is about to happen. Like with Noah, do we stubbornly say no way, or do we accept it as possible and begin to prepare?
“But Samuel declared: ‘Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.’”
Shepherd’s Note
Samuel’s word to Saul draws the line every generation has to draw again: GOD wants obedience more than religious performance. Sacrifice can be a way of bargaining, of giving GOD something impressive instead of the thing He asked for. Jonah shows the other side, a prophet who heard clearly and ran, and a GOD pursued him through storm and fish until he went. The question this entry leaves hanging is the right one. When the word comes, unlikely as it sounds, do we dismiss it, or prepare?
This post is part of a series about my beach encounters with GOD. Read from the Beginning >>