Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

Mrs. Burbach was my elementary school teacher for grades 2-4. She was a quite spoken lady but with a quiet intensity about her. She had her hands full as well. There were several boys, myself included, that were, shall we say, more than a handful. We were always into something and there is no doubt that we tried her patience to the max.

She, like many teachers, believed in memory verses. Each week we would memorize those Bible verses. There was one character in the Bible that she seemed to love, and I remember to this day her talks regarding the prophet Samuel. She spent time talking about the call of Samuel when he was a young person asleep at night and heard God’s voice. One of the memory verses I still remember is in 1 Samuel 3:9 — “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.”

Another verse that clearly comes to mind from Mrs. Burbach’s teaching is 1 Samuel 15:22. It states, “So Samuel said: Has 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 the heed than the fat of rams.”

This admonition from Samuel was given to King Saul who had disobeyed the voice of the God and captured a bunch of animals under the guise of a sacrifice for God. Instead of giving of his own sacrifice, he was capturing other people’s animals to sacrifice. He was not giving of himself or of his own good, and he was teaching the people to do the same thing. Earlier in the story it says they destroyed all that was worthless and stuff they despised.

It is easy to destroy the stuff we don’t like or don’t want. It is much harder to destroy things that we cherish or that we like. Years ago, Mrs. Burbach spent lots of time on this story with her class. It still rings true today. God wants us to fully commit ourselves to Him even when it means to get rid of things that we love, cherish or see value in. He wants all of us, not all our stuff, that we bring in place of ourselves.

This week as you reflect on your walk with God, consider the stuff you are holding that God has said you can leave behind. Give God your whole heart and walk with Him fully. This is an important step in each of our lives for growing spiritually.