ON THE VANGUARD

OUR GREATEST WEAPON
“’To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.’”
I Samuel 15:22b

I have been reading a book recently titled, Putting on your God Gear. For a while now I have been interested in knowing more about the armor of God, and this book by Perry Stone caught my attention. However, the opening chapter threw me off. The book opens with a question, asking, what is the one weapon the enemy fears the most. As I pondered this question my first thought was the sword, knowing that the Word of God is our sword. A few paragraphs later I found I was wrong; that this is not the greatest weapon as the Bible records that even the demons know the Bible. So then, as I continued to read the chapter, I continued to see the author asking this question. Finally he posed the question one last time, with the answer following. And what is the greatest weapon we possess, the one that the enemy hates? The answer is obedience. Our obedience to God raises a hedge of protection, but also becomes our greatest weapon.
Look with me at a few truths concerning obedience. In I Samuel 15 we read the account of the prophet Samuel giving specific orders to King Saul about what to do with the Amalekites. According to God, Saul was supposed to take them out completely, leaving nothing a no one alive. However, after the war we read that the prophet visited and heard the sounds of animals and saw the king still alive. For this lack of obedience, Saul was demoted as king. Yet even in this chapter we see details concerning obedience. Yes we see the punishment handed to Saul for not obeying, but Samuel also states that rebellion, in this case rebelling against God’s command, is like the sin of witchcraft. Now let us be fair and define this term ‘witchcraft’. The Hebrew word is QECEM, translating as literal witchcraft, but also translating as a serving of false prophets. To state it bluntly, not obeying God is equal to serving a false god. That is pretty strong when you stop to think about it.
As the chapter went on, the author asked another question that hit home. How many blessings do we fail to receive because of our lack of obedience? This one had me thinking. I recalled some of the words I heard a prompting of just recently. As I shared a few days back, with all these wedding and family plans that I am looking at now, I was beginning to feel burdened. Even though I felt God asking me to trust Him, I failed to tell you that I also felt Him directing me. In my stubbornness, however, I was hesitant to move on the direction I felt Him moving. With one closed door after another, I finally conceded to follow this prompting. Guess what. God was right! Why does it take me so long to obey at times? And what am I missing in both the short term and long term by not obeying right away. If Saul would have killed the whole camp as instructed, he may have been king longer. If I would obey God’s leading up front, I may know a few less stresses.
So what does all this mean going forward? Well looking at our text, to obey is our best option. God isn’t so much concerned with our physical sacrifice of animals, but He is very concerned with our heart sacrifice. God is looking for obedience. And the great thing about obedience is that in our obeying God the enemy is scared. He is scared because he knows that our obedience puts us in tune with God. Once in tune with God, we cannot be stopped. The likewise is also true. If we fail to obey, we leave the door open for an attack. I am tired of being attacked, and for taking so long to close the door on the enemy. Isn’t it time we make the decision now to obey? Isn’t it time to hold tight our greatest weapon?