To obey is better than sacrifice...
1 Samuel 15:22
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’
Matthew 16:24
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:1-2
Prayer Points
Pray for a renewal in your personal value system. Ask God what is important to him and prayerfully begin to make these matters your focus. Pray for a new understanding of what the sacrifice Jesus made means for you.
Pray for those all over the world who are sacrificing themselves for the gospel – the persecuted church – those who are paying a great price for their faith.
Pray for those facing difficult decisions – who are making a choice that may cost them dearly. Pray for grace and peace for them at this time.
DAY 31 : SACRIFICE
On July 31st 1941 in Auschwitz, the infamous German concentration camp, sirens announced the escape of a prisoner. It was the rule that if one escaped ten were killed in reprisal.
The commandant and his Gestapo assistant walked up and down the lines of assembled prisoners and picked out Francis Gajowniczek as one of the ten. As he was picked he cried out, ‘My poor wife and children.’
Hearing these words, Father Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward saying, ‘I am a Catholic priest, I want to die for that man, he has a wife and children... I have no one.’ His offer was accepted and with nine others he was thrown in an underground concrete bunker and left to starve to death. After two weeks they took out Father Kolbe, still alive with three others, and killed them.
It is easy to undervalue the meaning of sacrifice. Giving up chocolate for Lent is a popular choice as we remember the Lord’s own fast at this time of the year. We can easily be misled into thinking that such a sacrifice gets us ‘off the hook’. Once our pledge is fulfilled can we binge for another year?
What about those things that really matter to us? Attitudes
and agendas, personal goals and deep felt desires; these are
the drives that propel us – and also the things that we must
sometimes sacrifice. What has God asked us to do that we
haven’t done yet?
When we are willing to sacrifice anything for the gospel and give
up everything that comes between us and God, we will know
what sacrifice is.
Pray
* Pray for your ‘big issue’
* Pray for your ‘three friends’
* Pray for a new wave of revival.