Sunday, March 1, 2009

Sacrifice

What does the word “sacrifice” mean to you? Does it mean doing something you don’t want to do? Does it mean going without something you want? The dictionary defines sacrifice as the “surrender of something for the sake of something else.” Sounds a lot like Jesus’ life, doesn’t it? He left Heaven to experience all things human so He could be our perfect example for living. He was beaten so we may be well. He died so we might live eternally.

Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” But as Paul writes in Romans 5:6-8, Jesus went one giant step further: “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Would you lay down your life for an ungodly person to demonstrate God’s love so they might have an opportunity to receive Christ? Death could be considered the ultimate sacrifice a person could offer. In our Western worldview, the thought of dying for someone so they might receive the Gospel is not even a consideration. History shows that the act of martyrdom, while great in number, is small in percentage compared to how many Christians have lived since the resurrection. So what is God asking you to sacrifice? It is our mandate as Christians to reach the lost. I’ve heard it said that Americans (Westerners) give out of abundance, while the rest of the world gives out of sacrifice. Are you waiting for retirement to have the time and money to reach the world for Him? If you are, I can almost promise you that it will never happen. Global Infusion needs you. We need people to go with us to other nations. We need financial resources to spread the Gospel. Don’t wait. Do something today to reach the ungodly, even if it means sacrifice.