Obedience or sacrifice?

'Has 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,'

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)

Now, I've known the above verse is in the Bible but I'd not been aware of the context of it until now. Samuel said these words to Saul after Saul had gone into battle against the Amalekites, as God had told him to. However, Saul hadn't quite done as he'd been told. The victory had been won, but the way he did it is not how he was instructed. Saul had won the battle, he and his army were victorious, but they had been told to destroy everything and everyone, but they hadn't. They'd kept the best cattle, and brought back the Amalekite king. So, really it was half-hearted obedience. It's like Saul had listened to the bit that God said about winning and then not listened to how he, Saul, was meant to behave in doing so.

Have you ever done that? 

Kind of followed the rules but not quite? 

Maybe bent them a little to your advantage? Saul had gone to battle as he was told, but he hadn't gone about it in the right way. The instructions were clear yet Saul decided to do things his own way. He knew God had told him to go against this enemy but God had also told Saul to do it without compromise. Saul didn't listen, or he half listened. Ever done that? It's a bit like taking the easy way out with following God. You'll take the step of following what God says but you compromise faith in Him along the way.

Looking again at Saul, he seems to have good intentions. He says he was saving the best of the animals for an offering to God that's why he kept them. That's nice isn't it? It's like he's throwing God a thank you party. He was thinking about God the whole time wasn't he? Saul seems to of been thoughtful and giving glory to God. The thing is though it's like he thinks he's got better ideas than God. God was clear, but Saul wants to do things differently. He decides to go to battle as God said, but to carry out the task his own way. Half-hearted obedience. Don't fall into the same trap. No matter how good your intentions may be, no matter if it seems like you are giving up things to honour God, if you're not doing what He is told you to do, then you're not obedient. 

I'm not saying this is easy. It's usually far easier to compromise to; overlook things at work, turn a blind eye, pretend we have done things when we haven't or don't quite tell the truth to avoid a fall out in the name of peacekeeping. The thing is God doesn't want you to sacrifice your integrity. He wants your obedience, not obedience with some compromise, pure, faithful obedience. If you want to please God, that's how to do it.