DON’T VIOLATE SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS
By Bishop Mike Okonkwo
Thursday 1st May 2025
“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.” (1 Samuel 15:22 KJV)
In the book of 1 Samuel 9, the bible gives the account of how Saul was chosen by God from the least tribe to be king over Israel. He did not even expect that he will be king, but God chose him. Saul was a man’s man. Saul had charisma, he had presence, an aura about him. Anywhere he went, people turned their head. And so He became the king of Israel, anointed and appointed by God.
God gave him an instruction to go and destroy Amalek and wipe out everything, be it animal, rabbit, rats or human. But Saul thought that he will tell God what God did not know. Just like some of us, God gives us instructions, and we begin to tell Him what we feel He does not know. Beloved, the fact that you are God’s chosen does not mean you should not obey Him. Rather, the fact that He chose you should make you guard your relationship with Him jealously.
Saul went into Amalek, and preserved all the things he felt were good and of high value. He left King Agag and all the beautiful things he saw at Amalek. Why did he spare and preserve them when the instruction was to utterly destroy them? He said, “I want to offer them to God as sacrifice.” Did God not see those animals? He saw them and He still said wipe them out.
When you read scriptures like this, sit back and ponder on the awesomeness of your God. For the bible says, “…for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15 KJV) Beloved, don’t take the instructions you receive from the Lord for granted. Whatsoever He tells you to do, do it, and do it quickly.
Further Reading: 1 Samuel 15:1-23, Luke 6:46
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- 1 Kings 10-11; Evening- Luke 21:20-38