Sacrifice

Our church is in the process of purchasing land. We have been meeting at a high school for 6 years, and it's time to move out. The county won't let us stay any longer because of some regulation. We've been looking for land for about 4 years. Finally, God has brought all of the pieces together and we are going to buy twice the land for half the money. These next 5 weeks we are having a time of intense focus on stewardship of all things, not just money, but then hope to raise the money we need for the land and for building. Chris and I have been part of this process, and it's been good. The devotions we are reading for the next 5 weeks as a church are really good. Friday's was about sacrifice. The gist is that there is nothing in our world today, aside from the military, where sacrifice really enters our lives. So we have no basis to really understand its meaning deeply. I get that. But there is so much to think about. Romans 12:1-2 says that we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. That's hard on so many levels, but especially when sacrifice is so foreign. The author of our devotional says, "Sacrifice is giving away something of value (what's good for me), because you are investing in something of greater value (what's good for someone else)." I guess as a parent I can sometimes relate to that, even if it isn't always done with the right attitude. So I'm pondering sacrifice. What does it mean? For Jesus, it meant becoming, "a servant to his own creatures." And giving himself on the cross. The most challenging part to me is this quote, "We may live in a day when our culture doesn't get it, but how will they get it if we don't show them what sacrifice is by the way we live our lives and the choices we make?" Indeed.