I've been thinking a lot about living a life of sacrifice and I'd like to encourage us to do so one small sacrifice at a time. So often we focus on the ultimate call of God to lay down our very all but that can be so overwhelming. But God doesn't often ask for the ultimate in our following Him. Instead he ask for little things like getting up early to have our quiet times or to meet with some friends to pray. Or he asks us to send some money to Haiti to help with the relief effort. Or maybe he wants us to forgo eating after dinner that we might lose some weight. Or visiting my neighbor and praying for them or spending time with a new Christian helping them grow in their spiritual life. I'm not saying these sacrifices are easy, they wouldn't be sacrifices if they were, but they are a far cry from asking us to die.
So let me encourage you to make the small, everyday sacrifices that Jesus asks and to do so with joy and eagerness. It is how we offer our lives as a living sacrifice.
One more note, sometimes God does ask for the big sacrifice; the laying down of your life, or maybe harder yet, the laying down of something you love more than your life. When that day comes, the grace of God will help us be a disciple who can deny himself and follow Christ. So for now, build your spiritual life by the little sacrifices He calls for daily.
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