Is My Sacrifice Living?
Abraham built
an altar¡K; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar¡K ¡XGenesis 22:9
This event is a picture of the mistake we make in
thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God
wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus
did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not¡X ¡§Lord, I am ready to go with You¡Kto death¡¨ (Luke 22:33). But¡X ¡§I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.¡¨
We seem to think that God wants us to give up things!
God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our
lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them
up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth
having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of
loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened
immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a
relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is of no value to God to give Him your life for
death. He wants you to be a ¡§living sacrifice¡¨¡X to let Him have all your
strengths that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus (Romans 12:1). This is what is acceptable to God.
(Taken from Oswald Chambers ¡V ¡§My Utmost
for His Highest¡¨ January 8)