A sacrifice that costs me something

I went to a Good Friday prayer walk at my church tonight.  There were 7 stations, each one depicting a scene from the story of the crucifixion and resurrection, with narrated Bible verses accompanying each scene.  There was the last supper, the garden of Gethsemane, the courtyard where Peter denied Jesus, Golgotha, etcetera.  It ended at the foot of a massive, 100+ foot cross.  It was a beautiful scene.  As I sat there, pondering what He did for me, I was overcome by the sheer magnitude of His love for me.  Like the size of the cross, as I stood underneath it, craning my neck to see the whole thing, it overwhelmed me.

So many people let Good Friday go unnoticed.  It was so refreshing to see people who still try to recognize Jesus' sacrifice for us.  My bookworm brother gave up books for Lent.  My other little siblings gave up all their screen time.  My mother resolved to not listen to music all day today, to remind her of His gift to us.  I was challenged to ask myself; what have I given up for Jesus?  What am I willing to sacrifice for the Man who gave everything for me?  It was very convicting, and very challenging.  I don't want to be the type of Christian that many people think of when they think about a "normal" American Christian.  I don't want to give to God a gift that costs me nothing, like David in 2 Samuel 24:24, who said "I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."  So my challenge to you is this: what sacrifices have you made in worship to Jesus?  What would you be willing to give up for the Savior who gave you everything?  Don't let another Good Friday pass by without really thinking about the gift He gave you.

What I do know

So I was reading in 2 Samuel 24 today.  In this chapter, David took a census of the army, and God punished him by sending a plague and killing 70,000 Israelites in the span of 3 days.  This story has always troubled me.  The punishment seems so disproportionate to the crime.  But God is not a God who can always be understood.  And, when we don't understand Him, He wants us to trust in what we DO know.  He is patient.  He is kind.  He is tender towards us and our needs.  He loves us.  Life doesn't always make sense.  Our future doesn't always make sense.  Our friends and family don't always make sense.  God doesn't always make sense.  But He always loves us.  And, when nothing else makes sense, that's what we can cling to throughout life's storms.  God's love is enough for us.

It reminds me of a song by Sara Groves, called "What Do I Know?"  She spends most of the song talking about what she doesn't know, and the uncertainties of life.  But then she says what she does know - that to be absent from this body, is to be present with the LORD.  And that that is very good.  What a comforting thought that is to me!! :)

What Do I Know?

By Sara Groves

I have a friend who just turned eighty-eight
and she just shared with me that she's afraid of dying.
I sit here years from her experience
and try to bring her comfort.
I try to bring her comfort
But what do I know? What do I know?
She grew up singing about the glory land,
and she would testify how Jesus changed her life.
It was easy to have faith when she was thirty-four,
but now her friends are dying, and death is at her door.
And what do I know?  What do I know?

Well, I don't know that there are harps in heaven,
Or the process for earning your wings.
I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels,
Or any of these things.

She lost her husband after sixty years,
and as he slipped away she still had things to say.
Death can be so inconvenient.
You try to live and love.  It comes and interrupts.
And what do I know? What do I know?

Well,I don't know that there are harps in heaven,
Or the process for earning your wings.
And I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels,
Or any of these things.

But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord,
and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good.
Oh, I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord,
and from what I know of him, that must be very good.