Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (New Living Translation)

22 But Samuel replied,

“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”

The prophet Samuel is delivering a message from God to King Saul. Saul’s actions weren’t pleasing to God. Saul was sacrificing animals—giving to God in a way that made sense to Saul. This, however, wasn’t what God wanted.

Samuel then lists the types of sins Saul was committing. He was rebelling against God’s instructions and was stubbornly ignoring what God told him through the prophet. These actions were worse than witchcraft and idolatry.

This last sentence is where I lean to the side and wince. Witchcraft and idolatry are serious sins. Being stubborn worse than these? It is when being stubborn leads us to choose our own way of worship instead of God’s prescribed way. It is when we choose to be god instead of accepting that God is God and we are not.