What Is A Sacrifice?
A sacrifice is an act of giving up something you value for the sake of something that is more important or valuable. This is like Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac because he wanted to be obedient to God, Gen.22:1-12 or like God sacrificing His only Son Jesus Christ so He could have power over sin and death and be glorified. The prophets also sacrificed a lot. Ezekiel ate cakes baked with cow’s dung while lying on his side for over a year to bear the iniquity of Israel and Judah. (Ezekiel 4).
There are also some other types of sacrifices as follows:-
1) The sacrifice of praise – Heb.13:15, “By Him (Jesus Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name”. Also Ps.116:17, “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord”.
2) The sacrifice of joy – James 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptation”. Ps.27:6, “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord”.
3) The sacrifice of thanksgiving – Ps.100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name”.
Anything that we have in our lives that we are unwilling to give up, has great value to us. If they are good things, then by all means hang on to them but if they are bad we must endeavour to get rid of them. Whatever the sin, if we love it enough we will keep it but if we hate it enough we will get rid of it. Having made up our minds to give it up, then it becomes easier to get rid of. After we have given up or gotten rid of a particular sin, it becomes a sacrifice and we get more of God.
It was after the woman in 1Kings 17:12-16 obediently sacrificed her last meal to Elijah, that the miracles started happening in her cupboard. So a sacrifice is when we dare to defy the devil to find joy, praise and thanksgiving to give to God in spite of what our circumstances are saying to us.
Bruce, 12-11-13.