1 Sam 15:16-23 / Mark 2:18-22
A half-truth is no truth at all; it is actually a disguised lie.
Similarly a "half-obedience" is no obedience at all; it is a disguised disobedience.
It's like we are asked to sweep the floor and we sweep all the dust to one corner without clearing it into the bin. So we did sweep the floor but the purpose of sweeping the floor is not accomplished.
In the 1st reading, Samuel had to confront Saul about his disobedience.
But Saul protested. He said that he did obey the voice of the Lord. Then from his own mouth, the truth came forth.
He spared Agag the king of the Amalekites, for whatever reason, and he also took the choice sheep and oxen from the ban, so as to offer for sacrifice to the Lord.
But as Samuel retorted: Is the pleasure of the Lord in holocausts and sacrifice, or in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
It may seem like a small thing that Saul did not carry out the Lord's command to the full.
But as Jesus would say in Luke 16:10 - "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."
Disobedience starts with small things and then slowly escalates to big issues. And disobedience to the Lord is equivalent to rebellion which is a sin of sorcery, meaning to say that it is evil.
Let us pray that our minds and hearts will be like new wineskins that will be able to hold the wine of obedience to the Lord. Disobedience will be like those old wineskins that will be destroyed.