- Pst. Gavin Aleogho
One of the revelations of the personality of God to man is that He is a God of sacrifice. That is, He is a God who is pleased with the concept of sacrifice. This attribute of God is shown throughout the scripture in His dealings with men.
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The LORD Himself exemplifies this attribute of sacrifice by sacrificing His one and only Son to die for man on the cross of Calvary.
All through the scripture, you will discover that men of sacrifice were men who were able to win His heart. Right from men like Abel, Abraham, David, Solomon, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostles, etc. Thus, sacrifice is a necessity in our walk with God. You can’t actually please God if the element of sacrifice is not involved.
I can’t count the number of persons who come to me, telling me that they want me to 'disciple' them so that they can always be on fire for the Lord. Sadly, the majority of these individuals disappear into thin air after they’ve discovered that such a walk of faith demands the sacrifice of their time on a daily basis. Time spent on the word, prayers and fellowship. Of which they are not ready to sacrifice at the moment.
This was why Jesus made this striking statement, “Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23). You can’t go deep with God if you are not willing to deny yourself the pleasure that is due to you on the altar of sacrifice. You can’t go far with God if you are not willing to sacrifice your comfort for the sake of the gospel.
Someone like David understood this truth; hence, he said, “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24). King David understood that no man can strike a chord in the realm of the spirit without the element of sacrifice. Sacrifice is a necessity in dealing with the spirit realm.
Sacrifice is what differentiates “men from boys” in the spirit realm. Sacrifice is what determines ranking in this Kingdom of God’s dear Son. Show me a man of sacrifice, and I will show you a man of high spiritual status in the spirit realm.
Men who promptly obey God when He calls for sacrifice always experience a miracle. They always experience another dimension of God in their walk of faith.
You can’t serve God without making sacrifices. You can’t touch the heart of the Father without the element of sacrifice. True worship entails sacrifice. And the first sacrifice you must bring in your worship is the sacrifice of your own life.
The LORD says, “Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." (Psalms 50:5 NKJV)
One of the major reasons why a lot of people do not see progress in their walk with God is because they are not willing to sacrifice for the sake of following Jesus.
A man who is not willing to sacrifice his pleasure, comfort, time, money, resources, and his life for the sake of pursuing God will amount to nothing in the hands of God. Check it out, the exploit of the men of old and the works of the missionaries were made possible because these individuals were willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.
Yes, salvation came to us free of charge, based on the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. But for you to ascend in God, like the Apostle Paul, you must be willing to spend and be spent for the cause of the gospel.
This is why our Lord Jesus Christ made the following important statement. “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." Luke 9:23-24.
I like the way The Message translation puts it.
Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."
Luke 9:23-24 MSG
Come to think of it, when you got born again, you said, “You’ve given your life to Christ.”
Right?
If you've truly given your life to Christ, then your life no longer belongs to you.
So what God is asking of you is, “Don’t take back your life from Me. Leave it with Me. Spend it for Me. Sacrifice your life for the sake of the gospel. Give Me everything. Don’t withhold any aspect of your life from Me.” That is what God is saying.
By the way, He would not force you to do this. As a matter of fact, He didn’t take away the power to make a choice from you when you gave your life to Him. You still have your free will.
This is why He said in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
The choice of sacrificing your life to Him on a daily basis is a choice the LORD expects you to keep doing till you die, willingly. This is the choice of presenting your life as a living sacrifice to God. The sacrifice of your life must come first, before anything in your hands.
You must sacrifice your life before your money.
You must sacrifice your life before your talent.
You must sacrifice your life before your service is accepted.
Yes, it might look as if God will waste your life if you sacrifice it for me. But I tell you the truth; history has shown that men who sacrifice their lives to God always gain it more.
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."
John 12:24
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Matthew 16:25
God will not waste your life when you sacrifice all for Him.
Trust Him!
