Have you ever thought about what you are genuinely willing to sacrifice for something you cherish or love? I suppose you could say we would sacrifice our lives for our loved ones, our spouse, and so on. We would sacrifice our time to serve God, our fellow man, and even ourselves. The word sacrifice does have a haunting ora to it. Most of us immediately think of bloodshed, loss of life, especially if it's something we truly cherish and love!
There was once a hobbyist that collected a wide variety of antique car hubcaps. We are talking from the Model-Ts to mustangs. An extensive display, which seems to cover the whole house in just about every room. A local newspaper editor heard about his fame as a collector and asked for an interview. During the interview, the editor remarked, “I bet you must have a very understanding wife to see all these hubcaps throughout your home!” The hobbyist said, “Yes, she was, but it got complicated.” “What do you mean,” the editor asked. “I had to decide between these hubcaps or my wife, so I divorced her.” Needless to say, the interview quickly ended. In the hobbyist mind, what took precedence is what he focused on. What took priority is what he was willing to sacrifice, in this case his personal hobby over his wife!
The English word “sacrifice” derives from a Latin term that means “make sacred.” This meaning is quite appropriate for the rituals in the Hebrew Bible that are typically designated as “sacrifices” since they involve the transfer of offerings from human beings to God, from the common to the sacred. So when the sin offering was made from to the animal, and then the animal was sacrificed, the sacred moment satisfied God's requirement of covering the sin. The hobbyist did not have a true sacrifice here for his purpose was cherishing and loving his hobby. In relating to the definition of sacrifice, would the hobby of collecting hubcaps be considered sacred to God, or the marriage he had with his wife?
As Christians, when we think about sacrifice, we should think about Jesus, God's son, who came to this earth as God in human flesh. He was born, sacrificed for our transgressions, and was then resurrected and continues to sit at the Father's right hand. I am also reminded about the prophet Abraham who offered up his son Isaac to God in reverence to God's instruction. A willing effort he made to shed the blood of his only son, but God being full of mercy and love, knew Abrahams's heart and then immediately withdraw Abrahams efforts to save Isaac from the act of sacrifice and then was substituted with a ram.
These are just two examples of many throughout scripture of what sacrifice is. In the modern world today, sacrifice has a different culturalist view on our lives and society, to some, it's more of a cult-like phrase or even a pagan ideology that does not impact us today. I beg the differ!
We don’t hear sacrifice that much, except when we give light to our time, energy, money, and other earthly things that most of the time have very little to give us true gain in our journey of life.
So let me ask you another question. What are we truly willing to do to save our life? How far are you willing to go?
An experienced hiker was once trapped by a several-ton boulder that quickly fell on him. During the interview, the hiker made it very clear that his whole body was pinned in such a fashion that he could only feel his eyelids blinking while being pinned under this massive rock.
Laying there helpless, he tried to courage up the strength to move the boulder, only finding himself very helpless. But fearing that his own death was imminent, he absolutely gave it all he had to push the boulder off of him, and thankfully, he succeeded. Then slowly and painfully crawling away from the scene, he discovered all his muscles in the arms and legs were torn and protruding through the skin that left behind a blood trail while he was crawling away. It took years of therapy and multiple surgeries, but he fully recovered. Doctors claim this is superhuman strength, but we know its all of what God gave to this hiker! There are even other stories of people who literally cut off an arm or leg pinned in an injury, much like the hiker who ultimately saved their lives.
SO let me ask you again, what are we willing to do, to save your own life?
When we read from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 9, lets hear what Jesus is telling us.
“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than, having your two feet, to be thrown into hell. And if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished.”
So we have here a very sobering thought! Is it better to live life, with many sins to prevent us from entering God's Kingdom, a heart that is unclean from God’s sacrifice, OR, to accept God’s sacrifice, eliminate the sin we carry to allow us then entry? Which is better?
What Jesus is really telling us here, friends, entrance to the kingdom of God is so great a prize, so immeasurable a gain, that anything which might prevent that, no matter how good it may be in itself, should be ruthlessly sacrificed. Think about that statement, Kingdom of God is so great a prize, so immeasurable a gain! So what does this tell us about sin in our own lives? What is preventing us from truly following Christ, having him live and reign in us and through us, that there is no guarantee of any hope at all without Him.
A gentleman named Bill Right quoted this, “Without the certainty of the resurrection, we would come to the end of this life without hope, with nothing to anticipate, except despair and doubt. But because he lives, we rejoice, knowing soon we will meet the savior face to face, and the troubles and trials of this world will be behind us.”
Wow! What an awesome thing to remember!
So I asked you two questions to think about today. What are we genuinely willing to sacrifice for something you cherish or love, and what are we truly willing to do to save our life!
In proclaiming the truth here, each question does raise alarm to its own delimma’s. For instance, when Christ tells us to cut off limbs or pluck out eyes, that obviously is not the exact metaphor of what he is asking us to do. But think about it, something that is close and personal to us such as a limb or even a eye, means even something extremely close and personal to us, MUST be removed if it prevents us from growing for God’s full purpose he has set before us. Anything that becomes a idol, anything that becomes a hinderance, all things that prevent us from knowing God and following him. And guess what, its just not our own selves we have to consider, not just our own sins, our own faults, but others impact on our lives. Co-workers, aquantiances, Family, and friends are all subject to be removed if they are preventing us from growing in Christ. Yes, we love our friends and family, but they do not have our best interests in mind. We each are responsible for ourselves, not the other way around. I am reminded reading in the Psalms Chapter 1, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” Its hard to swallow for some of us, our closes allies could be these people that Psalms 1 talks about.
Friends, remember, God not only desires a relationship with us, he desires our lives to be richly blessed, packed full of love and running over with joy. Yet, we face an ongoing disease called sin, and its this sin that we talk about today.
So, What are we willing to do to save our own lives? Our answer should be what ever it takes with Gods guidance, strength and Love. NO matter what the world gives, but ONLY what God can give.
Anything that is preventing us from truly and genuingly seeking and knowing God will ultimately destroy our lives. So when we think about saving our own lives, it starts with a choice. Whom do we follow, whom is our guide, and what are we willing to do.
Did not Jesus tell us “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua). Not tomorrow, for we are not guaranteed tomorrow, for today is the day of salvation.
Amen.