The Way Back - Get Your Christian Life Back On TrackSample

 Mystery #5: Sacrifice

    Here, the way back to God takes a sharp, steep turn toward our final three mysteries. Be warned: all three disciplines strike fatal blows to our comfortable, consumer-driven, controlling hearts. 

    For most of us, the idea of sacrifice is understood and practiced only in terms of dieting. We give up chocolate for Lent, or we may participate in fasting (that’s conveniently timed to the upcoming party we’re attending and the dress we need to fit into). But for Christians to truly understand sacrifice and its role as a mystery that brings us closer to Jesus, we need to hear about the saints around us who became living sacrifices.

    People like Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, young missionaries in Ecuador in 1956. While attempting to reach out to the Auca tribe (also known as Huaorani or Waodani), Jim was martyred by the people he was serving. Rather than fleeing to the United States for safety, Elisabeth and a small group of other missionary wives, whose husbands were also killed in the attack, decided to stay in that country and continue the efforts to reach the very warriors who had killed their husbands. Eventually, Elisabeth and her friends led the tribe to Christ.

    Most of us hear inspiring stories like this but think such commitment and bravery are beyond our capacities. The truth is, modern disciples like the Elliot’s and ancient believers like Abraham and Abel internalized the same simple truth found in Scripture: that God created everything.

    “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)

    Why is creation important to sacrifice? 

    When we realize that everything we have and everything we are is God’s and not ours, then sacrifice doesn’t seem like a sacrifice at all. Tithing, volunteering, and mission work stop feeling like a chore and start feeling like us giving back what wasn’t ours in the first place. This is what makes it possible for ordinary people to give up extraordinary things—homes, careers, money, reputations, and even people they love the most. For the God who gave us everything, including His Son, sacrifice becomes our gift back to Him. 

    British missionary explorer David Livingstone said, “If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a heavenly king be considered a sacrifice?” 

PRAYER: Father in Heaven, reorient how I perceive value. Right now, I look at things through the lens of my pocketbook. Help me to discover my true worth through Your eyes. Everything I have and everything I ever will have is yours. I offer it all to Your glory. Amen.