Sacrifice

Reading a daily devotion this morning from Oswald Chambers on sacrifice set my mind in motion. Chambers makes the point the sacrifice must be now, and GOD chosen (not self-selected). He makes a great point, but I believe the sacrifice is already commanded from the text of the Bible.

            I understand the very valid point from Chambers. We can’t sacrifice the “easy” things for us to give up while ignoring calls from the Lord to sacrifice something we value. He is using the text of Abraham being called to sacrifice his son. How many of us would be willing to give up something or someone so dear to us for the cause of Christ?!

            Back to the sacrifice…God has already commanded what we are to give up. We are to lay down our life to pick up the life of Christ. Our desires, our passions, our life. We are to not live for us, but for Christ. There are many verses that point to this idea. And let us be honest; it is a difficult idea to live out in real life.

            We are an egocentric culture, especially in the US and western world in general. Are way of life, education, interactions, etc., all lead us to fulfill our personal desires to the neglect of others. This shows especially in our language. Everything we touch or become involved in throughout life is “ours.” Our church, our town, our state, our nation, and so on. I believe we say it without even realizing the words, or how we have been conditioned to think. Our, or my, indicates possession. My church – I possess the church. My town/community – I possess the town. You get the point. As a minister and pastor, I have even said such things about “my” Jesus.

            We use words loosely. To be fair, I almost certainly will use “my” Jesus at some point again. I will likely speak of “my” town, church, state, and other things. It is how we are conditioned, and there isn’t necessarily anything wrong since we speak that way indicating relationship and not ownership (generally speaking).

            The point I am trying to reach today is this – we MUST lay down everything that is distinctly us to live a new life for Christ. We do not possess Him, in the sense of ownership, but we must be possessed by Him completely if we are to make heaven our home. Chambers is correct; we do not choose our sacrifice. It is already chosen for us – our sacrifice is our life for Jesus, just as Jesus gave His life for us!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17

He must increase, but I must decrease – John 3:30