Tuesday, August 5, 2014

A ‘Small’ Sacrifice

 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
 
 
“I am crucified with Christ,
 
Therefore I no longer live,
            But Jesus Christ now lives in me.” 
 
So goes a song based on Galatians 2:20
 
I think, though, that we sometimes consider that verse and are unwilling to pay the price.
Why?
Because we wrongly equate the only acceptable sacrifice we can make must somehow be equal to Jesus’ crucifixion!
First of all, there is no sacrifice equal to what Jesus has done for you and me.
Secondly, when that is our frame of mind, we are defeated already.
 Jesus already did that and He paid the price we could not.
That does not mean that we need not crucify our flesh.
We can and we must.
But sometimes the sacrifices seem so trivial we discount them.
And yet, when we learn to be faithful in the little things – yes even in little sacrifices – God will entrust us with greater things.
Can you set aside a half hour of television and replace it with some time at His feet?
A small sacrifice.
Can you bless someone with an attentive ear when you would rather be doing anything else?
A small sacrifice.
Can your words – “I’ll pray for you.” – match your actions even when a crowded schedule demands focus in other areas?
A small sacrifice.
And yet all of these ‘small’ sacrifices reveal a faithful heart.
All of these small sacrifices develop in you and me a good discipline readying us for that greater sacrifice that will surely come.
Are you crucified with Christ?
Is it evident in a thousand small sacrifices in the course of your day?
Maybe that’s a measure far greater than the ‘big’ ones we never seem to make.
 

No comments: