Jesus Christ was our supreme sacrifice. He became the sacrificial Lamb, slain upon the altar for our sins. His ultimate sacrifice gives us forgiveness of sins, victory over sin in our daily life, sweet fellowship with Him, and eternal life. Romans 12:1 beseeches us that our logical and reasonable response should be to yield our lives back to Him as a living sacrifice. What does this mean?
Because Jesus laid down His life to be our sacrifice, we should also lay down our lives to be a living sacrifice.
We face this principle every day as wives and mothers. Constantly we choose whether we will demand our own way, do what pleases us, or lay down our life for our husband, our children, and sacrifice our own selfish desires.
Sometimes this is a battle. We need to be constantly reminded of Psalm 118:27: “Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.” We willingly lay our life upon the altar as we feel the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But then we get back to the challenges of daily life and mothering and off the altar we jump!
We need His cords to bind us. What are the cords? God says in Hosea 11:4: “I drew them with cords of compassion, with bands of love.” He says again in Jeremiah 31:3 “Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
Because Christ now dwells in our hearts (if we have been born again), we no longer live to ourselves, “but unto him which died and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14). This lifestyle of dying daily to our own selfish desires does not ruin our lives. Instead, it releases us into the joyful life of serving and sacrifice. This is the life of Christ that resides in us and the example He gave us to follow (Mark 8:35).
I read about a mission board that had an ox for its seal. On one side of the ox was an altar, on the other side a plough. Their motto was “Ready for either.” There are millions of Christians being martyred for their faith today (more than at any other time). They are literally dying upon the altar. Others (like you and me) become a living sacrifice as we take up the plough of the daily grind of life. Not doing it grudgingly, but with joy and exhilaration.
May God save us from being jumping jacks--jumping off the altar as soon as anything becomes too difficult, looms bigger than we can imagine, or does not work out the way we planned. Instead may it become our lifestyle to be bound with joy to the altar. This is the least we can do in response to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting by Edna Hibel