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Sacrifice is where we abstain from the possession or enjoyment of what is necessary for our living – not, as in frugality,
where we abstain from those things that are unnecessary. We forsake the security of meeting our needs with what is in our
hands. It is total abandonment to God, a stepping into the darkened abyss in the faith and hope that God will hold us up.
Such a move would be disastrous if our faith were nothing but a lie, but because it is founded in the truth of God, because
God is not only loving, but also all-powerful and able to meet our needs, sacrifice is a clear message to God: I trust You.
“And [Jesus] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a certain poor widow putting
in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out
of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on." - Luke 21:1-4, NASB
The poor widow gave all she had, abandoned herself to God’s care, as she gave sacrificially. Ironically, in some strange
mathematical equation that would make an accountant shiver, she gave more with her two pennies than all the rich gentlemen
writing out their large, tax deductible checks around her.
How nourishing to our faith are the tokens of God’s care in response to our sacrifice! The cautious faith that never
saws off the limb on which it is sitting never learns that unattached limbs may find strange, unaccountable ways of not falling.
A couple years ago I went to a Sr. High youth convention in Milligan, Tennessee. During the conference, God filled me with
compassion for the youth in depraved continents such as Africa, Asia and South America; I emptied out all my money for the
cause as they passed around the charity plates, and I knew I’d be starving on the way home. I prayed, “God, please
provide me a meal.” The group I was with entered a restaurant, and I was broke with no money for food and nothing to
put in my stomach. Yet I left stuffed with food, lots of leftovers, and $1.50 in my pocket. My story is just one of thousands
you could hear from those who abandon themselves for God. It is still difficult for me to abandon, but this just means that
I ought to do it more often. With the discipline of sacrifice, we practice a different dimension of faith, and often we are
surprised at the outcome!
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