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Obedience or Sacrifice?


How have you been approaching God lately?
With OBEDIENCE or with SACRIFICE?

“God required animal sacrifices as a way for His people to temporarily atone for their sins and draw nearer to Him.” ~christianity.com

-Obedience is better than sacrifice.

-Obedience is faith-based.
Sacrifice is works-based.

-Both can be necessary in some ways, however, one is greater.

-Obedience is based on an intimate and mutually loving relationship between you and God.

-Sacrifice can be given in a distant or non-existent relationship between you and God.

-Obedience is proactive.
Sacrifice is reactive.

-Obedience points to Jesus Christ.
Sacrifice points to the law.

-Obedience is our response to the gospel.
Sacrifice was a response to sin before the gospel.

-Some have only engaged with God using the method of sacrifice and NOT obedience.

-Obedience is God saying, “Join me in this. Walk with me.” Then we respond with, “Okay, let’s go!”
Sacrifice is us pleading, “Let me make it up to you. Let me pay you back. I owe you.”

-Obedience is dying to ourselves, while sacrifice is us making atonement for ourselves.

SO THEN…..DO WHAT NOW?
Turn your sacrifice into true repentance. With repentance as you turn away from sin you have no choice but to turn to obedience. Your obedience will stir your love for God, who loves you without flaw. As you walk with Him and join Him in his pursuits there should be a natural flow towards how we sacrifice. For example, let’s consider the sacrificial giving of time, love, and resources in our families and communities. Sacrificial giving bubbles up from the inside and must naturally come to the surface because you have connected with the heart of God. In that case, you’re not giving out of compulsion, regret, or obligation like when the Israelites made sacrifices. There is a difference. There is a relationship weighing in on your sacrifice and you are not attempting to repeat or replace the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Obedience is better than sacrifice. There is one sacrifice that is enough for us all. Jesus died in our place and replaced the need for the approach of making atoning sacrifices. He died and completed the consequence for our sins against God. When we decide to trust and obey Jesus, we choose best. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

1 Samuel 15:2
“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.”
‭‭https://www.bible.com/116/1sa.15.22.nlt

Proverbs 21:3
“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”
https://www.bible.com/111/pro.21.3.niv

Psalm 51:16-17
“You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”
https://www.bible.com/116/psa.51.16-17.nlt

Rae Marie Marsh
www.myyieldedlife.com

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