Tag: Lord

Living Sacrifice Day 11 – The Costly Sacrifice

Justin Hibbard

Begin by reading 2 Samuel 24:18-25.

I don’t know about you, but fasting is one of the most difficult disciplines for me. I can remember back in college when a group of my friends fasted solid food for 40 days. It was unbelievable. Some go about fasting in less dramatic ways, such as giving up meat or another particular food or fasting certain meals. So, what makes fasting so difficult? Well, it’s the idea of giving up something that we enjoy.

In Romans 12:1, Paul writes, “Therefore brothers and sisters, in light of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices.” The keyword in this verse is sacrifice. No, Paul is not telling us to kill ourselves; that’s why he emphasizes living sacrifices. But the word sacrifice gives us keen insight into what it means to live a life of worship and devotion.

In Old Testament times, God called His people to make sacrifices on various occasions. When someone came to the Temple, they either brought their animal or bought one there. The idea here is that everyone has to make their own personal sacrifice and give their own offering. Think about it like this: you wouldn’t say to yourself, “well, Joe put a couple of bucks in the offering plate today, so therefore, I don’t have to give today.” No, the sacrifice was personal, and it was every one’s responsibility to bring that gift to the Lord.

David understood this, and in 2 Samuel 24, we read about God commanding David to go to Araunah’s threshing floor and build an altar. When King David asks Araunah to buy his threshing floor, Araunah offers to give the floor and other items to David for free. That sounds reasonable. After all, if the president personally came asking for a tree in your backyard, a tomato from your garden, or something that you were selling at your yard sale, you might feel a little weird about telling him to show you the money. But David insisted on paying. Why? Because he said, “I will not sacrifice something to God that costs me nothing.”

When it doesn’t cost us anything, it ceases to be a sacrifice. It must cost us something. It’s like fasting. When fasting, we give up a pleasure. It would be pointless to say, “I’m going to fast meat,” if you’re already a vegetarian. There must be something we’re giving up in order for it to be sacrifice.

Well what are we sacrificing then? It might be food. It might be money. It might be our time. But the bottom line is that it has to be us totally. Our mentality should be, “the purpose of my life is to be a sacrifice to God.” When we say it that way, there is no cost too great and no gift too small. Meditate on that thought today. Tell God to help you have the mentality that you are a sacrifice totally devoted to Him, and ask Him to show you what it is He would like you to do.

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Living Sacrifice Day 10 – The Most Precious Gift You Can Give

Justin Hibbard

Begin by reading Jeremiah 18:1-12

A friend of mine who is in med school shared with me his experience of practicing surgical procedures on human cadavers. He told me how it is such a great act of love and service to donate your body to science to help med students learn and develop. However, the thought of my body laying naked in front of a handful of students makes me feel… well vulnerable. I begin wondering how they’ll treat me, how they’ll see me. Will they be grossed out? Will they poke and prod unnecessarily? Fortunately, my friend said that the instructors teach the students a sense of reverence and respect for the deceased and to treat the cadavers as a gift.

In Romans 12:1, Paul urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. He’s not telling us to kill ourselves or merely donate our bodies after we pass away. He’s telling us to live for the Lord. So, why does he say, “offer your bodies?” Most likely it’s because it’s the most difficult, vulnerable, and complete gift we could possibly offer to the Lord.

Think about it, there’s a homeless person on the street, and out of compassion, you want to reach out and help him. What’s easier – giving a few dollars or taking the person around and getting them shelter and helping them out in a much bigger way? When I think of the latter, offering $5 is a cheap and easy alternative. Maybe it’s because helping them out will take our energy and our time.

We, in our western world, are stingy about our time in more ways than we are stingy about our money. When there’s a big enough problem, it’s easier to throw money at it and walk away. While giving financially is important, Paul is urging us to offer our bodies. This idea encompasses our time, money, and talent.

In a sense, offering our bodies is much like being a cadaver; it is offering ourselves to the Lord and saying, “do whatever you want with me.” It is dying to ourselves and laying before our Savior. That is the perfect place for a disciple of Jesus. In a sense, the Psalmist who said, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere,” is not talking about his proximity to God’s literal Temple but his surrendering to the Spirit of God.

But at the same time that we are being a cadaver before the Lord, we are anything but lifeless. We are actively responding to what He wants us to do – serving in full devotion. In Jeremiah 18:1-10, the Lord demonstrates His authority but also His desire. He is one that creates and molds His creation. He shapes history and directs lives. He does this to some degree whether or not we are complicit with His desire. But His desire for us is that we would lay down our lives before Him and say, “Here I am – your servant. Do with me what you will.”

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Missed a day? You can find previous devotionals here.

Living Sacrifice Day 7 – The Personal Gift

Justin Hibbard

Begin by reading 1 Corinthians 14:26-33.

If you were to come to my office at work, you would see a drawing hanging up on my bulletin board. It’s no Picasso, but it’s an original artwork of great worth to me. It’s the most precious picture I own because my daughter Annalía drew it. Like any artwork, the value is in who created it, and for me, it’s precious because it’s a gift from my child.

Being a worship leader, sometimes people come up to me after church and say, “Justin, worship was really great today.” I appreciate that, but at the same time, I’m not sure how to take it. “Thanks?” I say, lacking a better response. I guess what perplexes me is what do they mean when they say worship was really great? Does it mean that sometimes the worship isn’t good? Are they talking about the music? What are they talking about?

Here’s what I think. In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.” One thing I think he’s urging us to do is to invest ourselves in a service of worship to God. So, when someone says to me, “worship was really good,” I think what they’re saying is effectively, “I worshiped God today, and you helped me do that. You helped me personally bring a gift to the Lord and invest myself in an expression of worship to my Heavenly Father.” It could be that they had a great experience worshiping and someone who was in the same room may not have. What makes the difference isn’t me, the music I chose, or anything else, the difference was them and their attitude. It was meaningful because they wholeheartedly invested themselves in worshiping God.

When we worship, we are bringing that gift to God. This is part of what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 14. We are bringing a piece of ourselves. My daughter could have bought me a picture to hang in my office, but her picture is worth more to me because it’s an expression from her to me.

Take some time today to read 2 Samuel 24:18-25 and reflect on how David insisted on investing personally in his worship of God. We’ll be talking about this passage in a couple of days, but for now, ask yourself, “What does it mean to be personally invested in worship, and how can I be better at doing this?” Don’t be content with watching other people worship around you. Make worshiping God a personal experience where you are totally invested.

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Missed a day? You can find previous devotionals here.