Those Bleating Sheep!

1 Samuel 15:14 "And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

Samuel was rebuking Saul for his incomplete obedience in the destruction of the Amalekites.  Saul was to kill everything alive including all people and animals.  Instead Saul brought back the best of the animals to offer to the Lord.  Surely in his mind this was acceptable.  Apparently not as God said in verse 11 that He regretted that He made Saul king over Israel.

Today it would be like a person giving his money to the church and thinking this will satisfy the Lord and make up for his obvious spirit of disobedience in other areas.  The sacrifice of our substance does not and never will exalt the Lord as we go through life with an unyielded heart.  Nothing honors Him as does obedience born out of a surrendered heart to the ways and mind of God.  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."

Does the Lord hear the "bleating of the sheep or the lowing of the oxen" in our lives this very minute?  My great prayer is that I would offer Him the sacrifice of a yielded spirit to do His will today.  

John 14:15 "If ye love me keep my commandments."