All God really wants from us is obedience. All over the Old Testament, God promises to bless the people of Israel IF they keep His commandments. Over and over again the Israelites obey God and are blessed, then decide to disobey God and face consequences. But God always brings them back into His blessings through grace, and they turn their lives around and worship Him. Again and again.
Among the countless things God is teaching me this year, one is that obedience is greater than sacrifice. In the Christian faith, we often talk about sacrifice. We must give up our own desires to follow Jesus. We must sacrifice everything we want to do, and do what God wants. We must give up all of the “fun” things in life. We even brag in our self-righteousness…I’m going to “give up” getting drunk…I’m going to “give up” sleeping around…I’m going to “give up” pornography… As if any of that is a sacrifice to God. God never asks us to be a sacrifice. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. And nothing we give up in this life can ever be superior to that. Anything that we sacrifice in this Christian life, God just looks at as obedience. He blesses us because of our obedience, not our sacrifice. God isn’t looking down on me saying, “Wow, Talya gave up a year of her life to serve me!”
No, I just believe that God is happy that I was obedient to Him and came on this journey that has been—not easy, but full of blessings. God commands us to go and tell the nations about Him. And that’s what I’m doing. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Our sin only has power when we are disobedient. When Jesus told the rich man to sell all he had and give it to the poor, and then come and follow Him…the Bible says the rich man went away sad. But I don’t believe it wasn’t the sacrifice that Jesus wanted from the rich man, it was obedience.
I Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said,
“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,
and to listen than the fat of rams.”
Personal Update & Prayer Requests:
In three months, I’ll be home… home being the U.S.A.. As I search for teaching jobs, I pray that God opens a door. Sometimes it’s tempting to think about how I sacrificed this entire year of my “career”…but then I have to remind myself that God doesn’t delight in sacrifice. He only asks for my obedience. And there are so many blessings in that.
Please pray that God opens a door to teach, which I believe is what God is calling me to next. Please pray that I can fundraise for my plane tickets, whether that is through selling more t-shirts or something else. Please pray that my team and I have an impact on the campers we are counseling this month! Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
If you would like to support my last fundraiser, go to www.bonfire.com/talyas-adventure-tee
Love you all!
Talya
