Who here knows what a sacrifice is? Those who are married have a pretty good understanding of sacrifice same goes those who have kids. What about what a sacrifice may cost? You may think that what you are giving up is a lot but what you gain in return is so much greater. Now if this is true you would think there would be more Christians but sadly the worldly possessions that they offer are too much. Too much to overcome and let God start to change our lives, greed has a big factor in what we sacrifice. We may work so hard to finally get what we want only to find something else we may want more and we may sacrifice our first want to get the second. John 3:16 Is there any sacrifice we ourselves can make to honor this?
Matthew 19:16-23 Now when you hear this verse I don’t know if you feel pricked in your heart or if you think about something as simple as this. But my point is this in the world we have today we have billionaires and millionaires what good are those titles when we leave this place? Can you take all that money with you when we die? It is said that some of the riches people in the world are also the ones who are alone. Think about that all the money in the world and yet you still can’t afford a friend, someone to love you, or even salvation. But if we give up all the money becoming poor we can become rich in Jesus and have so many blessing in our lives. Which of these two matters most to you in your life? I don’t know about anyone else here but if I was rich I wouldn’t know how to live anymore. May sound silly but when we are rich we can get that mindset we are above everyone else or that money will buy anything without consequences. That’s just not the case with Jesus for He humbles us and blesses us with what we need not what we think we need. For example say a boy follows Jesus does everything he is suppose to yet expects that when he prays for money God will give it to him. Instead of getting blessed with money the boy is blessed with a job to earn the money, the boy learns the value of working and also learns that it means more to work for something than it is just be given to you.
Now the big thing about sacrifice especially if we call ourselves Christians, its not a sacrifice for a day, week, month, or even a year its lifelong. Its not like new years resolutions where we choose to give something up then when it gets tough give up. Or what about we give something for that year then next year we choose something else but go back to old ways with our previous resolution. If we are to truly devote ourselves to the one who gave His only son that we may have enteral life. Then we have to sacrifice the things that are keeping us from Him no matter how hard that may be for if we don’t give it up here what will we say when we stand before Him. Time is one the biggest sacrifices we can make in our walks with the Lord and it also allows us to achieve more as a Christian. But we have jobs, kids, bills, and many other things that factor into our time being spent in a day. With that in mind can you juggle your time between all the worldly things and yet still find time to read your bible, pray, or even praise Him. Time is one thing no matter how much man tries to control it, it will never change because of us we can come up with daylight savings or any other ideas. But still time doesn’t change it just keeps going no matter if we are asleep or even if we are in a coma. We can spend our time however we see fit but when He calls us home how will we say spent the time we were given whether its been 19 years or even 70?
Sadly enough it is tough for anyone to sacrifice time but it becomes even harder when we start to sacrifice our time with friends or family. Some will understand what we are doing or they themselves are Christians but others may not. Others will try tear you down, treat you as an outcast, or even erase you from their lives because they may feel convictions when you are around. They may label you as one of those people or say that because you found Jesus doesn’t mean they need Him in their life. But lets be honest are these not cries for help? We have a amazing father in Jesus and we also have a amazing friend in Him amen. I would sacrifice friends or family if they tried to get me to go back to old ways, tell me that I’m wasting my time on a myth, or even if they kept tearing me down over my faith. God has said that everything has a season that also goes for friends they may come and go. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Family will also come and go some will get it some will not there are a ton of reason why it is hard to follow Jesus when it comes to family. But ask yourself this question would you let family come between your salvation? Would you let friends come between your salvation? If they call themselves your friend or family shouldn’t they encourage your life’s endeavors not make you regret the choice you have made?
Some may say it is easy others may not but smoking, drinking, or partying could you sacrifice any of these? To those who grew in a home where drinking or smoking was around it may be harder to give those things up. What about friends or family that peer pressure you at a gathering, could you still say no? In the bible their are a lot of verse that talk about strong drink and to stay away from it. The world may dress it up however they want to try and make it appeal to you but at what cost. When we drink too much what does that cause us to do? When we smoke for over 10 years what does that cause our bodies to do? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. What happens to the temple after the years of drinking or smoking, is it a temple anymore or does it become a empty shell?
There is so much that we may sacrifice in our lives some are obvious and some may not be. The way you live your life is one you may not think of but it is important if we call ourselves Christians. Its important that we carry or present ourselves to others not in a boastful manner but humbling. Look at the twelve apostles when they went and talk of Jesus they didn’t dress in fine clothes with fancy hair. They were told by Jesus to humble themselves bring no money as they traveled town to town and to rely only on the hospitality of others. Now may not think that is much of a way to live your life but does it not say to walk humbly with your Lord? Micah 6:8 I must confess I have a big problem and my wife even says that I think more with my heart than my brain sometimes. My biggest problem is I would rather live for others and devote myself to give like He did as well be able to help as many people as I can. Its a problem because sometimes I forget you want to help everyone but you know that you can’t. As a Christian how do you live your life? Does it show the love of Christ in your life? Does your life need a revival to rekindle the fire that Jesus has put in your heart? What would others say about how you live your life? Could you sacrifice money, fame, men, women, fancy clothes, fancy houses, or even fancy cars just to be with Jesus? How do you live your life today? Is your heart of stone or is it filled with the love of Jesus? Are you here today walking humbly with your God or do you simply need a hand to get back on the path?
Mark 5:25-34 What did this woman with issue sacrifice just to be able to touch the hem of Jesus? Keep in mind that Jesus knew someone had touched him even being surround by the multitude of people. Because of her sacrifice and Jesus she was reward in more ways than one. Luke 5:17-26 What did the people who lowered the man from roof just to see Jesus sacrifice? Again here is Jesus surrounded by a multitude of people and yet when He saw what these men had done. He rewarded them and also healed the man that was lowered down, their sacrifice was reward just like the woman’s was. With these in mind lets talk the will of your flesh as a sacrifice what the flesh wants and what the spirit inside wants are worlds apart in differences. You have to choose one or the other to feed you cannot have it both ways. Whatever one you choose ultimately decides whether or not if you will be saved or not sadly some don’t care either or. The reason the will of the flesh is so difficult is because God may say go and preach my word but the flesh will fight. It may tell you that the people are strangers why would they listen to me, why can’t someone else do it I’m busy, or even may convince you that its a fools errand. The flesh is very weak compared to the spirit that dwells inside and sometimes it take awhile for us to see that. The world will tell you everything that your flesh may need but how often do you hear about the spirit in the news? What about churches coming together to praise Him? The will of our flesh can easily be swayed by others and it also can change but our spirit doesn’t. Hebrews 13:8 I ask you what will you sacrifice for your walk with Jesus? What will you give to balance out the scales that have been set before you? With salvation one side and world on the other which side will you choose? What sacrifice’s have you already made in your walk? If He has blessed you in anyway and you still have not fully committed to Him what is stopping you? What will give up here today to commit yourself to His care and honor His blessing? Sacrifice is key in our walk with the Lord because it allows our faith to grow and it allows to see the value of what we have. The proof of these is shown in 1 Peter 1:7 today is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice in it and rejoice in our sacrifices made to be here today. As our love for Christ grows in us it becomes easier to sacrifice the things that we covet or think we need in the world.