Photo courtesy of moyerphotos.

We hope you enjoy this re-post from May 12, 2014. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

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, KJV

A young, mischievous boy committed a naughty, household crime. His mother, catching him in the act, demanded that he come closer so that she might dish out the appropriate punishment. Rather than comply with her request, the little urchin ran away from his mother, taunting her with the phrase, “You can’t catch me! You can’t catch me!”

His very wise mother made no attempt to chase the boy, knowing full well that her son was correct. Instead, she transformed her countenance into one of dreadful sorrow, and then she said loudly so that the boy might hear:

No, I can’t catch you, and perhaps I no longer need to. Your failures as a son are the result of my failures as a mother, so it is not you who needs to be punished, but me.

Looking at the switch in her right hand, she proceeded to whip her left forearm with all of the strength she could muster. Immediately, the boy’s heart melted. He ran to his mother, hugged her tightly, and cried, “No, Mamma, you didn’t do anything wrong! Punish me! Punish me!” The young boy grew up to be an evangelist, and each time he recounted this story, he let his audiences know that his mother’s act helped him to understand just what the innocent Christ did for him – and for us all – on the cross.

It’s too late for us to stop Christ from taking our punishment, but it wouldn’t make sense for us to try to do so anyway. Only Christ, free from the taint of sin, could satisfy the sin debt that we owe. What does make sense, however, is for us to recognize what the boy-child evangelist recognized: Christ deserves our thanks and our obedience in return for His self-sacrifice.

How thankful and how obedient are you today?