The most important thing...

When King Saul made excuses for not following God's instructions to the letter, he not only justified himself and blamed others, he also continued to offer "good reasons" for what he had done… and not done. He said that they had saved some animals in order to make sacrifices.

And so, in 1 Samuel 15 vs 22 - 23, the prophet Samuels explains the bottom line principles for serving God with a right heart motivation:

1. Hearing and obeying God's voice is the most important thing we can do. It is infinitely more important than all our hard work, no matter how sacrificial that work might be. God delights in our obedience to His voice more than in our acts of religious observance. To obey is better than sacrifice.
2. Disobedience is a serious thing; it's not a "small sin," but is indicative of exactly the same heart attitude as other, seemingly more "obvious" sins. Rebellion against God's instructions is compared here to the sin of witchcraft, and arrogance (putting yourself and your own opinion before God's) is said to be just like the evil of idolatry.
3. Heeding God's word (embracing and obeying it) is a key to His favour and anointing. Saul is told that, because he rejected the word of the Lord, God has rejected him as king.

There is no question that God loved Saul; there's no doubt at all that Saul really was the person God chose to be the first king of Israel. But Saul forfeited his calling, anointing and blessing by choosing to do things his way instead of God's. No amount of sacrifice or ceremony, no amount of excuses or blaming other people could cover up for that clear act of disobedience.

If we were to prioritise only one Bible principle for living a fruitful Christian life, surely this simple principle would be a strong contender for top of the list: to love and obey God is more important than anything else that we could possibly do. Not only does it bring great joy to His heart, it's also a key to blessing and fruitfulness in our own life, family, church or ministry.