“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than
sacrifice (Proverbs 21:3, NIV).
Doing what is right is being obedient to God. Obedience
means that I have submissive respect and love for Him. Obedience flows from a
yielded heart which has responded to His love. It is not given out of duty, but
out of surrender with no strings attached. My sacrifice though, can have
strings attached. I might sacrifice something out of a sense of obligation or
with the thought that I should get something in return. This kind of sacrifice
is actually an attempt to show God I am in control—not to submit to Him. If I
sacrifice something in my life for Him with the mindset He owes me something in
return, then I have attempted to put God in my debt. If my heart is not yielded
in submissive respect, my sacrifice becomes a travesty. It becomes an attempt
to get what I desire from Him without completely surrendering my heart. I tell
God what I want Him to do for me, but I hold on to my right to do what I
desire.
Living an obedient life is one that honors His sacrifice for
me. When I answer and respond to God’s loving grace in absolute surrender of my
will to His, something beautiful happens. An intimate relationship of dependency
and obedience grows. “If you really love me,” Jesus told His disciples, “you
will keep the commandments I have given you (John 14:15a, J.B. Phillips). If I really love Him, I will obey Him. The
question is how much I love Him. Do I really understand the debt that He paid
on Calvary for me? Do I get it–really
take His sacrifice into my heart? He sacrificed his life for me. I respond with
my surrendered life completely dependent upon His grace. When I give something
in response to His love, not really expecting anything in return, I am not really
sacrificing it. I just honor the fact that God owns my life and everything I
have is His. When I accept the love of the Savior who gave His life for me, my
debt has been paid in full. I am dependent on Him. He is my all-in-all, and
there is nothing I can give to Him except my obedient life.
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