Obedience Over Sacrifice

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).

Why do the extra credit, when you have not finished the required? I feel as if God asked me this recently. I am not boasting or anything, but the life I live often goes beyond what my pastor preaches as a standard. However, I was going above and beyond on some stuff, while falling short of a minimum requirement on other stuff. I was sacrificing, while being disobedient, and clearly scripture does not condone that. The Church of the Living God needs to obey their pastors, their Bible, and what they get from God in prayer first, before sacrificing. As the people of God in the last days, we need to adhere to our man of God, we need to listen to his voice like never before because he is the one that hears from God and he is the one that is going to go before God on the day of Judgement on your behalf. There is an anointing that comes from obeying every single word of your Bible and every word your pastor preaches on, however sacrifice does bring that extra anointing, but if you have not learned obedience, that sacrifice is done in vain and done for naught.

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19):