Sacrifice

“Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.” (Psalm 50:14)

“…giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.” (Psalm 50:23a)

“The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit…”(Psalm 51:17a)

“I will sacrifice a voluntary offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good.” (Psalm 54:6)

Sacrifice.  Hm….Now what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word, “sacrifice”? For me, I immediately think of the animals brought to slaughter in the Old Testament to atone for sin.  Or I think of reluctantly giving something up that is precious to me.  Well, God showed me another side of sacrifice that I would like to share with you.

I looked sacrifice up in the dictionary and got the standard definition: 

1. The surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.  

2. The thing so surrendered or devoted. 

3. A loss incurred in selling something below its value.

No wonder we view sacrifice as painful or hard at times when words like surrender, destruction, and loss is in its definition.  Sacrifice comes from the Latin equivalent to “sacri”=holy and “facere”= to make.  In other words to make holy or something that is devoted or dedicated to the service of God.  Now, that doesn’t sound so bad, so I dug a little deeper.

The Hebrew word for sacrifice is “Korban” which means to come near, to approach, “to become closely involved in a relationship with someone for this is meant to be the essence of the experience which the bearer of the sacrifice undergoes”.  I don’t know about you, but the English word we use and understand does not do justice to what the Hebrews defined as sacrifice.

I realized that this whole time I was dwelling on the negative side of sacrifice (surrender, destruction, loss) and not realizing that my sacrifices are actually giving me so much more than I could ever possibly give; a close relationship with God and all the benefits of knowing Him.  Now, even my most heart-felt and joyous sacrifices seem so puny and piddly compared to what God gives us in return.  It humbles and shames me to think of those times when my sacrifice was reluctant and stingy. I was more focused on what I had to give up than what God was wanting to give me.

I realized that God demands our sacrifice (to come near, approach, become closely involved with Him) out of love knowing that we will receive more than we desire and comprehend.  Wow!  What a wondrous, glorious, love this is!

I pray that as you offer up your sacrifices to God today, you would experience his presence and that you would fully understand his love for you.

Viewing sacrifice in a whole new light with you,

Lisa