The Meaning of Sacrifice

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
July 17, 2024
Romans 12:1-2, John 7:38

For many years now, I have tried to incorporate bible verse memorization in my daily routine. I also decided to find a passage of scripture that can serve as my “go to” whenever I come into a difficult time or difficult decision. History tells me, I should have done this before becoming an adult, I think this practice might have saved me many heartaches.

When I recite Romans 12:1-2 from memory, I often see where I miss the mark when it comes to being a living sacrifice. In point of fact, it took someone like Oswald Chambers to help me understand what being a sacrifice really means; “Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person—His purpose is to make a person exactly like himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us—and we cannot measure that at all” (My Utmost For His Highest, Barbour and co.pg.181).

John 7:38 also holds a difficult concept, but one that equally important to understand; “Jesus said, “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” Jacob Glassner, from his article on these scriptures in a 2014 edition of the Southeast Outlook newspaper explains this well; “This living water is the Holy Spirit, and it is to flow from us, not be stored in a reservoir (pg. 16, Devotion article).

I leave you now with a spontaneous poem upon which I invite you to ponder;
“The Holy Spirit, you must come to know so that out of you will overflow streams to comfort and to show God’s good, perfect and pleasing plan.”

Amen!