Tuesday; February 23

One of the more consistent parts of godly religion is the presence of sacrifice. In the Old Testament, animal sacrifice was part of the Jewish religion. Personal and national sacrifice helped to appease God and cement the relationship He had with His people, Israel. When Jesus came to earth, sacrifice took on a new perspective. Jesus, the Perfect Lamb of God, became the once-and-forever sacrifice that covered all of our sins. Yet, interestingly, the idea of individual sacrifice did not completely go away. No, it no longer centered around leading a lamb to slaughter, it became something done on a more personal level. An example of this is found in Hebrews 13:15-16, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”. We, not our critters, have become the focus of sacrifice to God.

In this passage we find multiple ways we can offer sacrifices to God. First, we offer Him praise through our language and our lifestyle. Then, we offer support to our fellow man through doing good and sharing. By reaching up to God and out to others, we offer our lives to the Lord.

We can be thankful that we don’t have to continually offer bloody sacrifices for our sins. Yet, as we offer thanks to God for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, let’s not overlook our need to continue our spiritual sacrifices that help us stay in His good graces.

Think About It!

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