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In Old Testament times people understood full well what a sacrifice was. Devout Hebrews would go out to their barns, look over their flock, and take the very best, kill it and offer it to God. This was no small deal. That meant taking the very thing that would make you the most money and simply destroy it. No monetary compensation. No physical profit. Yet they realized that the value far outweighed the cost. What was at stake couldn’t be bought. What they received was forgiveness and peace with God.
Jesus became our sacrifice. He paid a debt I could not pay. Paul calls us to be living sacrifices. He calls us to give all we have to God. Not to earn his favor. Jesus did that. We give God all we have in gratitude for what He’s gives us. The problem with living sacrifices is they tend to crawl off the altar when the fire gets too hot!
Father help me to stay on the altar; to give all I have especially when times are tough. Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me the example of sacrifice. Holy Spirit, empower me to stay true. Amen.
Reflect the character of Christ in all you say, do or think!
President John F Kennedy is credited with saying “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. In essence he borrowed heavily from a principle taken from the Holy Bible. The apostle Paul has that same principle in mind when writing to the church located in Corinth. That principle can be stated in many ways but in its simplest terms, what we get out of something is directly proportionate to what we put into it. When we stop contributing to the emotional and physical needs of personal relationships, we stop feeling fulfilled by them; when we stop putting forth our best effort at the workplace, our jobs become mundane and redundant; when we develop a consumer mentality in our churches, we “no longer feel fed/get anything out of it.” It carries over in our spiritual lives as well. When we fail to plant the seeds of prayer, scripture and corporate fellowship, we stop growing spiritually. Then we wither under the weeds of this worlds concerns and wonder where God is. A neglected field offers no crops regardless of the weather. We can’t expect God to provide fruit when we haven’t cultivated the seed. Here’s the good news. He doesn’t expect perfection, he only seeks progress. Step out. Step up. Watch him work!
Quite often, if not always, when we are brutally honest with ourselves, we lose hope when we focus on the finite rather than the infinite. I get discouraged when things don’t go my way. I get sad when life deals me a bad hand whether it be as a consequence for my own behavior or attacks from others. When I set my mind on God (sometimes forcefully?) and remember my only hope comes from him through his Son Jesus, then I can praise him. Praise is like a light in darkness. No amount of darkness can defeat the smallest amount of light.
Trusting others is hard. Especially for those of us who have been lied to, misled, or had people in our lives who claimed to be our friends but eventually turned their backs on us. It’s hard to trust someone who throws you under the bus whenever they feel the need to feel good about themselves.
Too many people love you for what they can get from you. When you can’t deliver anymore they toss you out like yesterday’s paper. Others may claim to love you and make promises they can’t (or later refuse) to fulfill. God doesn’t love you for what you can give him, he loves you for what he can give you. He’s never made a promise that he couldn’t fulfill. You can trust him to deliver.
