Whatever He says, do it!

“To obey,” even in the slightest and smallest thing, “is better than sacrifice,” and to hearken diligently to the Lord’s commands is better than the fat of rams. It may be that some of you, though you are professed Christians, are living in the prosecution of some evil trade, and your conscience has often said, “Get out of it.” You are not in the position that a Christian ought to be in; but then you hope that you will be able to make a little money, and you will retire and do a world of good with it. Ah! God cares nothing for this rams’ fat of yours; he asks not for these sacrifices which you intend to make.

“To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” Perhaps you are in connection with a Christian church in which you may see much that is wrong, and you know that you ought not to tolerate it, but still you do so. You say, “I have a position of usefulness, and if I come out I shall not be so useful as I am now.” My brother, your usefulness is but as the fat of rams, and “to obey is better than” it all. The right way for a Christian to walk in is to do what his Master bids him, leaving all consequences to the Almighty. You have nothing to do with your own usefulness further than to keep your Master’s commands, at all hazards and under all risks. “I counsel thee to keep the King’s commandments,” and “whatsoever he saith unto thee, do it.”

From a sermon entitled "Obedience Better Than Sacrifice." Image by aussiegall under Creative Commons License.