Sacrifices sacrifice something

Pastor Mark Jeske

The worship life of the Old Testament Israelites looked very different from a Christian church service today. When you came to Jerusalem, you would bring a sacrifice, either of your crops or of one of your animals. The head of the family would carry out the slaughter of the animal with the priest and watch the blood flow.
Imagine that you are the farmer or shepherd watching that animal die. Some of your wealth was going down the drain right in front of your eyes! That male animal would never be able to sire offspring. That meat being burned up on the great altar couldn’t be eaten to nourish any people.

And on the great festivals? “The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings” (1 Chronicles 29:21).

Those sacrifices really sacrificed something; that is, they really cost the Israelite people something of value. Animals were their wealth. When they slaughtered those animals, they were sending some powerful messages to God: 1) We are obeying you. 2) We love you and appreciate you and want to show it by giving our best. 3) We have utter confidence that you can and will replace these animals and much more.

That’s also our spirit as we give our sacrificial gifts to the Lord. Lord, you are the Source of everything. We know you will give back to us much more than we ever gave to you.

Devotion used by permission of Time of Grace®. For more information, visit timeofgrace.org