The Freedom of Sacrifice

On Thanksgiving day my dad dragged my mom and me out to a tiny little church in the middle of nowhere to hear some friend's of his preach. I'm not gonna lie, I had no desire to go. But my dad really wanted to so my mom and I gave in. I'm really glad we did.

I'd forgotten how much I love hearing his friends preach. When they study a passage, they get into everything: the history of the people, the place, the context, etc. Plus, they study the original language (mainly Greek-it's what the majority of the New Testament was originally written in). It's amazing how much truth can be derived from a single verse when you really understand what the author was trying to say.

The preacher spoke from Matthew. It was the feeding of the 4,000. No, not the 5,000, the 4,000 (The feeding of the 5,000 is in chapter 14, the feeding of the 4,000 is in chapter 15). Scholars believe that the two happened within 2-3 months of each other. It's the exact same scenario except one happens in a grassy area and the other in a grassless, bare area, and the first time around there's a thousand more men to be counted. The 12 disciples are there. There are thousands of hungry people and Jesus, who wants to care for their physical and spiritual needs. The first time around, the disciples don't believe that Jesus can feed the crowd with five loaves of bread and a couple fish. But God does this incredible, inexplicable miracle and thousands of people walk away with full bellies and it's fabulous! And the disciples see all of this and you'd think that it would be something they would remember and not ever doubt again. But a few months later the same thing comes up and get this: They actually question whether or not Jesus can feed 4,000 people. Dumb disciples!

But how many times do we, today, in our own lives, see the miracles and the blessings and the mighty hand of God at work in a situation, and then when something similar happens later we doubt whether or not He can handle it. We refuse to surrender our notion that if it's impossible for man it's impossible for God (which God has disproven since the dawn of time).

But what if we were to give up what has been for what is to be?

Our preconceived notions about life, or even pain from the environments we grew up in, our unmet expectations, past hurts and hardships that we just can't seem to get over.

What if we sacrificed it, laid it all at the feet of Jesus, so that God could move in and do everything He wants to do?

He could heal. He could restore. He could absolutely pour out His heart into His children and give them passions and dreams and desires that they never would have experienced apart from Him.

We could partake in the compassion of God. We could share in the heart that so desires something more for the people of this world. We could love selflessly. We could give freely and without reservation. We could go places and do things that we'd never imagined. And we get to walk every step of the way with the God of the universe, who created us and breathes life into us and from the moment we're born pursues us to the ends of the earth just to know us.

And all God asks of us is to sacrifice those things we hold on to, those things we can't change.

I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty simple. I surrender the crap of my life to Jesus, and He comes in and pours Himself into me. Sure, I may have to give up my pride, I may have to deal with stuff I'd rather leave hidden, but in the end, knowing Christ and making Him known to a hurting world is so worth any sacrifice on my part. And any sacrifice Christ asks me to make is doable, because He sacrificed everything.

Jesus, You've invited me to enter into this totally amazing relationship with you, and I'm there. And now You say to surrender my all for what you want to do, and I can't find any reason not to. You are a faithful and have proven Yourself worthy of all our trust over and over again. I am whole-heartedly Yours. Do in me whatever You want to do, for You have greater things in mind than I could ever think up for myself.

Where is the fire?

Everyone has a passion. I have a friend who says that one of the most defining traits of a person is their passion. Whether it be art or creating or being active or learning or relationships, everyone cares about something. If you don't, you're missing out on one of the greatest things life has to offer.
But is it possible to lose the fire of those passions? Yep. I know. I'm there. It's not that I don't know why I do what I do... I know that I'm here to serve and love. But what happens when all the love has been drained? When you feel so raw that you can't take on anything else? What happens then? How do you get more? Because I know what I'm supposed to be doing. But I don't have my passion. My drive. My love.
But maybe that's why I'm empty.
My passion.
My drive.
My love.
They get me nowhere. I've got nothing to offer.
My love is limited.
But God's love is infinite.
His passion is abounding.
His drive is like a hurricane.
I don't need more of my love. I need more of God's love. My passion is weak. God's is forceful. I have no drive. But God is a steady, keep-moving kind of god.
Oh Christ, fill me up with Your love, Your determination, Your passions. I can't do this. I can't love perfectly or stay with something or really and truly care about something with self-abandonment. But You can. Pour out Yourself into me, that I might love and care and fight more like You.