Sacrifice of Others

Have you ever pondered how the sacrifice of others has made or makes your life possible?

For instance when we were kids we never dwelt on how much Mom or Dad sacrificed to put food on the table every meal. We just sat down and dug in. Just think about the hours working earning the money to buy the food, the labor in meal planning, cooking, and the cleaning up afterwards. Now that some of us are grown up with families of our own we are just beginning to truly see and appreciate the countless sacrifices our existence has required.

Almost everything we enjoy in life has come through the hard work of others. The items we purchase in the store, the cars we drive, the businesses we work at, our education, the beds we sleep in, the homes we live in, the wood we used to construct our homes, and even the air we breathe and for those who are blessed by it....the salvation of our very souls... can be attributed to the hard work, ingenuity, careful thought, and grudging or loving sacrifice of either mortal man or God Himself. None of us are self sufficient...with any meditation on our dependency we can see how any such thought is mere ignorant pride. Even if we lived in the days when men grew their own food and felled their own trees to build their houses we would still need God to supply the rain and fertile soil in which to grow our food. No two ways around it we certainly need God for survival here on earth and in the afterlife....and I have already made the case for needing others here on earth in this post-modern world we now live in.

Take a moment to humbly reflect on the sacrifices others make to bless your family. Think about God's Supreme Sacrifice given for your soul's salvation. Then think about what you are sacrificing for the well being of others. Do you give it cheerfully or grudgingly? Then search your soul deeply; are you sacrificing anything for God? If so do you sacrifice it cheerfully and humbly or grudgingly and hatefully?

Remember God says He loves a cheerful giver! Are you busy giving cheerfully? Think and pray about it.

Blessings

Not too many Blessings

18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. 20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? 27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Luke 18:18-27

Let this passage serve as a warning to not let our blessings become the very reasons we would give for not serving God in complete surrender without any reservation. Riches in this passage blinded the ruler from realizing just how much he needed God in his life.

I wrote the poem Blessings when I was dwelling on the thought that the very things we should be most indebted to God for, which should evoke feelings of thankfulness, sometimes can become the very things we hold too tightly; and, hinder us on our journey toward closer fellowship with God. As I dwelt on this thought; I began to pray this prayer.

Blessings

Not too many blessings, Lord

Lest I become content

To depend on what You’ve given

To love the things You’ve lent



Though I thank You for relationships

May I never lean on them too much

That they’d become so dear to me

I’d fail to seek Your touch



May I not become so happy

With my life and things of earth

That I’d become complacent

And forget the things of worth



May I never be so satisfied

I would not hunger after You

Though I may have to suffer need

I want to be close to You



Grant me only enough blessings

To give to me a song

And never, Lord, so many

For You I would not long

Written By:

Laura L.Hensley

Copyright 2003

26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

Psalm 37:26