Choose Both

1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. Saul was commanded to utterly destroy the Amalekites, for their time of judgement had come. Saul half-way completed the task, bringing back the king and the best of the animals. When confronted about it by Samuel, Saul tried to reason away his disobedience by saying that he planned to use the animals to sacrifice unto the Lord. Samuel then told Saul that sacrifice was to never take the place of obedience. There is never a good enough reason not to obey God. But I don't think that we should use this verse to diminish the benefits of sacrifice either. It is true that obedience is better than sacrifice, but we shouldn't ever have to pick just one. I believe that God's Word teaches us that obedience and sacrifice are the traits of His kids. Now we don't sacrifice animals under the new covenant, but we do offer up a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15), and we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God (Romans 12:1). Our Lord gave us the perfect sample as He offered Himself to the Father on our behalf as a spotless lamb in order to take away our sin. Now the next time that you are given the choice between sacrifice and obedience, choose both!