Friday, February 28, 2020

Making A Sacrifice From The Heart ... Just Like Jesus


When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me…” — Galatians 1:15-16

“The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. […] The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest)

I went to a house yesterday morning to give direction to some volunteers who had come to help with repairs we are making caused by Imelda.  It has been cold in the mornings so I broke out my work coat.  Each time I put that coat on I am reminded that it represents sacrifice and blessing.  Let me explain.

About 12 years ago, I was standing in a parking lot of a church in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, doing pretty much what I am doing now. Not typing a devotion, but serving the people affected by a disaster, then, Hurricane Katrina.  

It was cold … colder than I thought it would be on the Gulf Coast.  I had not dressed for the weather … didn’t have a coat.  I wasn’t thinking about being cold, but about getting the volunteers to the work that they had come to do.  That’s when a young man walked up to me.  He asked me if I had a coat, I told him no.  Then he did something that has been with me since that day, he took his coat off, a red, hoodie Carhartt work coat and gave it to me.  He said, “here you can have this one.” 

Well, I am a great giver … but like most givers, I struggle with receiving.  But ….. I did accept the coat.  I recognized the sacrifice he was making … I saw Jesus … I saw something holy that was taking place … an expression of sacrifice …

“No greater love has one man than this, then that he lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13 

A sacrifice costs the one sacrificing something that is dear to them.  In a flash, I was reminded of Matthew 22 and the parable of the sheep and the goats … “Lord when did we see you …?” It was a coat … not a sacrifice on the cross … but that is not the point … it’s the heart that made the sacrifice that makes the coat significant.  This coat hung in a closet for the four years we served in Haiti.  But even then, each time I saw it there, my heart was rended and I was taken back to that parking lot.  I was reminded of what is important in life.  I am sure that the young man had no idea what his gesture would mean to me years later.  And likewise my friend, you  have no idea what your kindness toward others, your sacrifice from the heart will mean to them.  That is not the motive for our doing and serving … our motive … our motivation … our reason … is the love of God that we bear in our hearts that has found a way to express itself and bring glory to the Father.

Oh, and because I am, who am I am – a granddaughter says the “King of the planet Weird” I thanked the man for the coat then added. “By the way, the Bible says ‘if a man asks for your coat, give him your shirt also’” Actually that was a slight mis-statement of the verse.

And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” – Matthew 5:40

He laughed (thankfully - Martie tells me my humor is too dry) and gracefully declined to take his shirt off. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

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