To commune with God is to have joy, passion, fulfillment, and peace. Finding Him, our spiritual Father, amidst a fleshly realm is not impossible, but involves a setting aside of the flesh. Sacrifice is the name we give such an act. Sacrifice. Depending upon your upbringing, this word may bring forth images of blood, pain, grief, or even death. For some it may simply remind us of forfeiture of pleasures, fasting, or boredom. Under the old covenant, God graciously allowed Israel to substitute lambs, bulls, or doves for this offering, but the practice was always costly. Satan has always known the power of sacrifice. He understood that there was no communion with the Father in our realm without it. Here are a couple of his more famous heist attempts:
Gen 4:4-5
(4) And Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat of it. And Jehovah had respect to Abel and to his offering, (5) but He did not have respect to Cain and to his offering. And Cain glowed with anger, and his face fell.
Exo 10:24
(24) And Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, You go serve Jehovah. Only let your flocks and your herds be left. Let your little ones also go with you.
On the bulletin boards of hell, the greatest rewards are given to the demons who can steal the sacrifice. Destroy their temple! Why? That is their place of sacrifice! But what about now? New covenant. New temple. New priesthood. Jesus, God's Lamb, became our sacrifice and no more flesh is required. The new temple is our body, and our sacrifice is... is... what?
Heb 13:15-16
(15) So through Jesus we should never stop offering our sacrifice to God. That sacrifice is our praise, coming from lips that speak his name.
(16) And don't forget to do good and to share what you have with others, because sacrifices like these are very pleasing to God.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the price has been paid and the gap permanently bridged that we may have fellowship with our Father. But there is still a sacrifice we can offer: praise from our lips and care for one another. And yes, the devil still tries to steal our sacrifice. Why, do you think? What treasures might he be cheating us out of when we fall for his deceptive ploys?
