Action: Obedience vs. Comfort

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice." - 1 Samuel 15:22

Sometimes your courage in standing up for the Lord will cause you to do things that might seem illogical to other people. In those moments we must remember that no matter what the cost, no matter how hard it might seem, it is more important to be obedient to God than to be “comfortable”.

An inspiring example of someone who gave up all comfort in their obedience to God is Paul in the book of Acts. After traveling all over the known world, preaching and enduring much persecution, Paul was headed back to Jerusalem. On the way back he stopped to fellowship with some of the people he had won to the Lord. In many places the people warned him, “Don’t go back to Jerusalem because you will be put in prison” (Acts 20 and 21)

But Paul answered them, “I am going to Jerusalem…not knowing what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love” (Acts 20:22-24, TLB). It’s as though Paul said, “you know it just doesn’t matter what happens to me. I have got to obey God and do what I know is right. I believe that my faith, my life and my future are in God’s hands.”

~ Written by Bryn, an Honor Academy Intern

Are you willing to live in this kind of radical obedience to the Lord? Or does comfort keep you from giving your entirety? Sometimes people prefer to sacrifice something in their life rather than do the hard work of being obedient to God. Is that you? Seek to be obedient to God above all else!