Sacrifice

This month has become a true testing of loyalty, and I’ve understood it from every message I’ve heard, every word exchanged between myself and another believer, and every prayer I’ve offered before my Heavenly Daddy. And I confess that even as I compose this month’s meditation, bitterness and restlessness lie within my heart, waiting to be placed at the feet of Jesus...again.

The Lord desires to know which is worth more to me in the end; the comfort and gratification found in so many things of this world, or the good fight and the victory that is found in the life Christ has for me? What will I sacrifice to follow after my God, and will I fight to endure the tests thrown my way throughout my journey with Him?

Chapter ten of the book of Hebrews reminds us of the intent of the sacrifices the Lord asked of His people in the times of the Old Testament, and so may be applied to our Christian walk; “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins”, Hebrews 10:1-4.

The sacrifices served as a reminder to God’s people of their imperfection need of God. In a similar sense, this may be applied to our Christian walk with the Lord today; though we have been once and for all redeemed through the blood of Christ, if we’re not daily asked to lay down our crowns and pick up our cross, how would we remember the beauty of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and its claim upon our lives? This fact demands transformation and a continual shift in focus- one always a step closer to God’s heart and life in Christ alone.

It’s easy to feel sorry for ourselves when God asks us to lay down plans, possessions, and relationships at His feet, but rejoice and remember that this temporary pain is not the end purpose! Even the first verse of the above passage in Hebrews reminds us that the call to follow Christ and the sacrifices that often come with it point to something greater! The author of Hebrews is alluding to the ultimate sacrifice of God’s son, and I believe that we can also consider this the ultimate prize to true followers of the Lord. We’re merely exchanging one life with earthly merit for one with eternal satisfaction in store.

Understand that even an earthly life fully sacrificed to Christ will not come without its blessings, but their purpose is to provide us with a glimpse of what is to come. Jesus said; “For the pagans run after [earthly things], and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”, Matthew 6:32-33.

The entire message of the gospel, built upon the foundation of the Old Testament, screams of God’s longing for our hearts. Because after the desires of our old flesh have been shed, the comforts of this world laid down at His feet, and our faith tested by His refining fire in this life, what is left?

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise”, Psalm 51:16-17.