Sacrifice.

“Looking unto Jesus…” seems like an appropriate beginning on this Holy Week reflection. Really it’s the call we have for everyday as a believer. Shouldn’t we be looking unto Jesus constantly? However, the wonderful thing about Holy Week celebrations is the intentional slowing down and focusing on the Passion of Jesus Christ.

The author or Hebrews begins the twelfth chapter of his book with the exhortation to follow in the footsteps of the faithful saints who have gone before us and sacrifice for our Lord who endured so much for us. Chapter 11 is full of familiar and not so familiar characters that lived by faith and looked toward the hope in Christ to overcome. It is a chapter often called the “Hall of Faith.” We can read it and be inspired to follow Jesus because fellow fallen humans have walked that path before us.

One thing they held in common with Jesus, they were willing to hold on to their faith no matter the sacrifice.

Sacrifice. It is such a difficult word for us to understand. Not difficult in the sense of a vocabulary word, but difficult for us to understand as a life style. Paul challenges us to be a “living sacrifice” for God (Romans 12:1-2). We read the Bible and memorize the passage but do we really understand sacrifice? Do we know what it means to be a living sacrifice?

God Just Wants Me To Be Happy

Today we are so far removed from the sacrificial system and have been lulled to apathy by the comforts of prosperity. We think sacrifice belongs in the past, or is summed up in a prayer of confession when we first got “saved,” whatever that means. We don’t know the first thing about real sacrifice or the persevering heart of the saints in Hebrews 11. If we would just take a moment and look up Voice of the Martyrs, or read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and see what our brothers and sisters were willing to endure for their faith. Maybe, just maybe we would begin to reorient our thoughts about sacrifice.

No today the “pursuit of happiness” reigns in the heart of man. “God just wants me to be happy and so I will do what makes me happy”…even if that means disobeying Scripture. “If the Word of God interferes with my happiness then it must have meant something different.” “Certainly the God of the Universe was mistaken when he called my source of happiness sin.” These attitudes are deeply entrenched in our lives and we don’t even know it.

You will not find a verse in Scripture where Jesus says He came to make you happy in your sin. You will not find Jesus willing to overlook sin and encourage you to keep doing it. You will not see Jesus making light of your gossip, your lust, your anger, your worry, your gluttony, your bulimia, your cutting, your drunkenness, your cheating, your stealing, your foul language, your…you know what it is.  He doesn’t look lightly upon sin.

Despite what you think, sin does not make you happy. Sure it might provide temporary pleasure that can be confused as happiness, but in the same instant it is destroying your joy. As the old saying goes, “sin will take you further then you want to go, keep you longer then you want to stay and will cost you more then you want to pay.” The problem is that we get caught up in the illusion that sin is so good and that it is the road to true happiness.

However, if you would allow yourself to truly reflect on what you call happiness in your sin, you will see how destructive it is. You will see how much you are sacrificing to hold on to your sinful behavior and desires. You will see that your attitude, your relationships, you joy has all been tainted by this sin. It is so very costly and it might cost you your soul.

Who For The Joy

Jesus knows how costly sin is. He knew it before He created the world. He knew you would sin against Him before He formed you. And yet He still created. He still allowed you to be born. Even though He knew it was going to cost Him His perfect and pure life. That He would have to shed His sinless blood for the payment for sin.

You see, Jesus looked beyond sin and saw a prize. He looked beyond momentary pleasure and fleeting happiness, to see everlasting joy. He saw the opportunity to provide redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation to sinful man. He looked forward and saw the provision for you to be freed from sin, to be in right standing with God and to have hope for your future. He saw joy. He saw you. He sacrificed Himself for joy.

Endured Such Hostility

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a wimp when it comes to enduring pain and suffering. I mean seriously, as soon as I get a little cold I just want to have my mom take care of me and make her homemade chicken soup. I want to escape pain. I want to run from uncomfortable situations. And in my battle against sin…it’s no different. It’s a struggle. I don’t want to really battle, that’s too hard. Yet, as a follower of Christ, giving in is not an option. Jesus died to set us free…so be free!

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us when we are feeling overwhelmed in our struggles, to consider what Jesus endured for you. Look at what He was willing to go through in order to provide you with the power to overcome. Look at how far He was willing to go to demonstrate His love for you. Can you really look at Christ’s sacrifice and not be encouraged to stand firm?

Seriously, in your struggle against sin have you got to the point of shedding your blood? It begins to put our struggle into perspective. Jesus shed His blood that we might live. Take time this Holy Week to contemplate what Jesus endured for you. Maybe watch the Passion of Christ, or read a reflection on the cross. Allow the horrendous nature of his persecution and death to bring your sorrow and grief over your sin. Allow it to cause temporary sorrow that leads to eternal joy.

Why?

Why would Jesus endure all of this if He just wanted you to be happy? He knew that mankind was stuck in slavery to sin and so He came and died so that they could…continue in that sin? That makes no sense. He came and died to set us free.

If you have trusted Christ, He has set you free. You have been set free from sin. You have been set free to live a righteous life. He died to make you holy, pure and Christ-like. Don’t settle for cheap imitations. Don’t allow the lies of temporary pleasure to rob you of eternal joy. Be a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing unto God.

Jesus knows what will bring you true joy and happiness…the pursuit of holiness. Stop sacrificing for sin, and learn to self-sacrifice for Jesus. It will cost you everything, but you gain far more then you could ever imagine.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot