Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?

Samuel 15:22

How would you like to have grown up as a child where there was only one rule in the house? Kids would probably think that would be the greatest! Life would certainly be a whole lot easier and less complicated if we only had one rule. It would have been so much simpler to only remember one rule rather than all those horrible rules that dad and mom imposed on us. Well, the reality, in our home, was that we did basically only have one rule: “Do as you’re told.” Obviously, that was only the foundation for all of the other details that followed. But once we understood and accepted the need to submit to this one rule, I found that life was far less complicated and actually, much more enjoyable.

Adam and Eve were only given one rule, and their disobedience of it has resulted in horrible consequences and unmeasured grief, not only for themselves, but for all of mankind. God gave Abraham what seemed to be a much more difficult and unreasonable command to sacrifice his own son. His unwavering trust, however, and his immediate obedience resulted in uncountable blessings, both for him and all of his descendants. The prophet in 1 Kings 13 was told to go back home by a different route and not to hang around and eat or drink anything in the area. His quick and decisive death by the jaws of a lion was the direct result of his disobedience.

As we read through Scripture, we find that the many detailed instructions that we read are really only extensions of one foundational rule: “You shall love the Lord you God with all you heart, and with all soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Where is our heart today? What is our attitude toward the ‘rules’ of God’s Word (and of our parents, teachers, employers, church, and civil government)? Do we obey because we have to or because we want to? Has there been a heart change? If we “want to,” the compulsion to “have to” is no longer a problem for us. The big question is, “Do we really want to?”