Sacrifice

I just spent 25 and one half hours with a group of young adults (15 to 25) on a fasting and prayer retreat. We stayed at the church overnight Saturday and went to services on Sunday and in the afternoon we went off campus to spend some time with God in the out of doors. One particular exercise was a meditation on Romans 12:1-3.

Each participant was to listen as the passage was read three times. The prayer was that God would reveal His word for us as individuals through this scripture as we listened for a key word or phrase that seemed to resonate within us. As we each heard our word or phrase, we would then meditate on it seeking God's message.

The word that struck me was sacrifice.

As I thought about the concept of sacrifice, it became clear that in my own life there is much that I hold closely, that I protect and view as sacred. These are the things that are my "rights", my inalienable prerogative. They are my habits, my "comfort zones", my customary practice, my heritage, my tradition. All these things that keep me in my ruts of safety and comfort are non-negotiable. They are me.

If I am to be the "living sacrifice" Christ has called me to be, all of it is fair game. If He requires my "down-time", it is a reasonable sacrifice. If He requires my entertainment, what is that. If He requires my "personal time" or "personal space", why would I withhold it? If He is Lord and King, there is no sacrifice that He cannot require and that I cannot give.

It's easy to say that I live by faith and then say God can't possible require that I risk losing my home or financial security or worse yet, do something I am not comfortable with. What is it that I just won't live without. That is the very thing that I must sacrifice. It is easy to offer my body as a one time sacrifice with great risk of death. In a momentary burst of uncharacteristic heroism, I can run into the burning building, leap into the churning flood or snatch the child from the onrushing traffic. But can I give up 20 minutes of pre-recorded MASH? 30 minutes of browsing myspace comments and facebook notes? Can I find 20 minutes a day to learn Spanish so I can communicate with a growing Hispanic community within my own neighborhood? Can I take 15 minutes to assemble a gallon zip-loc bag with food suitable for a homeless person? Can I create enough margin in my schedule to stop and help the stranded motorist?

What God has done for me and my family is nothing short of miraculous. He has provided not only our basic needs, but far and away more than we had ever expected. He gave us a house, many cars, an all expenses paid trip to Disney World for 4 days (including hotel and some spending cash), a room make over (complete with 46" plasma tv and theater surround sound) and so much more ...

Bella Swan says, "When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end." (Twilight, Stephanie Myers, Preface, p. 1) When God has done so much for me, how can I be upset about a little inconvenience? God's love for me has been demonstrated in so many ways that exceed the material things listed above. How can I hold anything back from Him? How could I consider anyting a sacrifice when compared to all the undeserved benefits and blessing I've received?!?! What an ungrateful wretch I am!

As I sat at the beach on an incredibly beautiful, spring day, listening to the surf, feeling the warm breeze, completely relaxed and enjoying the moment, contemplating this issue for all of 6 minutes, I was suddenly struck with only one thought ...

What sacrifice????????