In Samuel 15:22 Samuel asked King Saul, “Has the Lord as a great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the voice of the Lord?” Saul answered and said, “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed (is better) than the fat of rams.”
This signifies that God values hearing and following His commands over performing religious rituals or sacrifices. It emphasizes that heartfelt obedience and submission to God’s will are superior to empty, self-imposed actions or external displays of devotion.
Obedience is the natural fruit of Jesus in us. When we do this, His life will be pressed out through ours.
Last night I had a vivid dream of God showing me how to live in obedience to Him. It began when I was standing in a large room with people sitting toward a stage. The lady sponsoring the event had just finished speaking on obedience on how God told her to host this event, as I watched a man come in and I heard her say loudly “Oh my gosh you are here, and she walked out of the building with him. My instant thought, “she obeyed God in the beginning and then disobeyed Him in finishing.” The dream ended with me, saying to a group “if your going to obey God, you should probably finish what He told you to do.” And with that, I woke up. I’m not sure if this is a reminder or a warning of something that is going to come to pass. But I know the feeling that I had when I woke up, and I had better pay attention.
True obedience is total submission rather than partial obedience or attempts to substitute good works for genuine devotion. God is more pleased with a heart that listens to His voice than with religious formalities, talent, or service that masks a disobedient Spirit.
Our focus should be on hearing and obeying, not merely performing tasks. God values our willingness to follow His path over our attempts to improve on it with our own efforts.
I think it’s important to remember that obedience is the outward evidence of the true fear of the Lord.
From Pity to Praise 