"... Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Genesis 22:2
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One of the greatest acts of sacrifice in the Bible is when Abraham took his beloved son Isaac to Moriah and offered him as a burnt offering to the Lord. It's second only to God's own sacrifice of His son, and to the Lord's sacrifice of laying down His life to save many lives.
When we examine the term "sacrifice," we need to understand that true "sacrifice" isn't an easy thing to do. It's something that we give up that is of value to us. It's hard to do. If it's easy, it's not really a sacrifice. One can almost measure the value of a sacrifice by how hard it is to give up.
For instance, we load up the car and haul our old clothes, furniture and belongings down to nearest charity. Is that true sacrifice? It isn't in my case: I confess. It's usually junk that I want to get rid of to make room for the new stuff. How often do we truly sacrifice -- keep the old junk, and take the brand new stuff down to charity? Just a thought. And even harder, we don't tell anyone. It's just between the Lord and us. Sacrifice.
There are so many sacrifices that we can give to the Lord. What about the sacrifice of praise? Why would that be a sacrifice? Here's a typical scenario. We've worked eight hours at a job. Our back hurts, our feet hurt, our head hurts. We're tired and all we want to do is relax. That's when we offer the sacrifice of praise. Although we feel as if our bodies are falling apart, we raise our arms and magnify the King of Kings Who has given us so much.
"I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord." Psalm 116:17
Have you ever pulled a muscle playing your favorite sport? Have you ever worked until every muscle in your body ached? Now, ask yourself -- have you ever pulled a muscle worshipping God? Have you ever worshipped Him until every muscle in your body throbbed? If not, then we haven't given God all our strength. The first commandment says that we shall love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. When we worship, we can love Him with all our strength. Let's pull a muscle worshipping God. Let's raise our arms to glorify him until they ache. Just a thought.
"God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect." 2 Samuel 22:33
"Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually." 1 Chronicles 16:11
"Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place." 1 Chronicles 16:27
"Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength." 1 Chronicles 16:28
"And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing." Psalm 117:22
"Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." Psalm 141:2
Let's worship Him even when it hurts. That is sacrifice.
What other sacrifices can we give the Lord? How about the sacrifices of righteousness? It's not always easy. Sometimes what the Lord asks us to do is contrary to what our flesh wants to do. But, we make a decision. We put the flesh under subjection to God's will and we obey Him -- rather we like it our not. We offer unto Him the sacrifice of obedience.
"Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD." Psalm 4:5
Sometimes by faith, we do what the Lord has asked of us, though it doesn't really make sense; for instance, love your enemy. That's always a touchy subject -- not always easy to obey. But, we offer that act of righteousness and obedience unto the Lord.
"To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." Proverbs 21:3
We can sacrifice our time. Instead of doing what we want to do, we find a way to do service to the Lord. It could be praying for others; it could be fasting; it could be visiting the sick; it could be giving our life to be a missionary; it could be studying His word and seeking His wisdom. However we do it, we take our time, our talents, our dreams, and we give them to the Lord instead of doing what we want to do with them. It's the greatest of all our sacrifices when we give all we have, all we love, and devote it to the Lord. As usual, everything boils down to love. When we keep His commandments and are totally devoted to Him in love, we will be able to offer the sacrifices that please Him.
"And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:33
We should all examine our lives and our hearts. Look at the things that mean the very most to us and ask ourselves -- "Would I be willing to sacrifice that to God?" True sacrifice is not an easy thing. It's hard. If it's easy, it's not really sacrifice. If God has to rip it from our lives, it's not really sacrifice. Whatever it is, we need to be willing to lay it at His feet and say, "Your will be done: it's Yours."
What would we sacrifice for our Lord and God?