August 23: SACRIFICE
See it:
“Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away. Mark 14:64b-65 (NLT)
Obey it:
The gospel of Mark is pretty graphic when talking about Jesus’ last days. He talks about the pain and suffering Jesus was put through. It’s easy to look at what Jesus went through and shake our heads with disgust. How could they? Why would they? But the truth is: I did this. I spit on Jesus. I beat Him up. I nailed Him, hit Him, and killed Him. That is the truth of the gospel. Jesus went willingly to a death caused by my lying, evil desires, pride, sin. He took my punishment. I took His glory. And there is NOTHING I can ever do to repay Him. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves the following three questions:
1. Why would He? One word: love. Love for us kept Him from coming down from the cross. Is it possible that in the midst of all our theological education, religious knowledge, and prophetic understanding we sometimes neglect the reason for our salvation, i.e., the cross? Without it, everything else becomes either harder or complicated.
2. How could we? I don’t believe it’s possible to look at His sacrifice and be unwilling to sacrifice ourselves. When we don’t, we won’t. Take a bit of time today to reflect on the cross. Let that be your motivation for service. He died for us. That’s why we sing. That’s why we worship. That’s why we serve.
3. When will we? Now that we understand what it means to be saved by grace, through faith, plus nothing, period, we need to act on it. It would be hypocritical to expect grace from God and extend law to others. Let’s act with love.
Share it:
1. Spend time with the elderly.
2. Share your secret recipe with a friend.
3. Write a letter of appreciation.
My prayer today:
Jesus, today I just want to thank You. I don’t want to ask for anything, just want to say thank You.
Season of Service