The Ultimate Sacrifice

A Journal Entry April 12, 2006

Sitting in Radina’s coffee house, I’m listening to David Crowder’s Illuminate album while looking through the gospels. I’m trying to find the part where Mary, the sister of Martha, wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair. The song “Only You” starts to play and I start to think about Jesus as a person and what he has done for me. Jesus was a man, a real living man. He built relationships, He offended people, He loved people, He was loved by many people. He slept, He ate, He drank, He laughed, He cried; He was a real man. He felt pain, He felt Happiness, joy, grief, sorrow, anger. This man that was born was a mother’s son, a father’s joy, and a brother to his siblings. He had a family that grew up with him. He had very, very deep ties with numerous people on earth. He drew people in to himself and they loved him like you or I love a close friend. All this, the joy that comes with all that I’ve described, he gave up so that I could come into the presence of God. He gave up his life, not only the biological functions of his body, but the social ties, the relationships that you and I would define our lives by, His LIFE. He gave up his LIFE for me; for you. He left all of it behind so that you and I could know what he knew: God as father. How do we honor such a sacrifice? Some of us go to church every Sunday. Some of us give a portion of our money to the work of God. Some of us even study the Bible. But I ask you, are all those things worthy of such a great sacrifice. Is Jesus’ sacrifice reflected in how we respond to it? I would argue no, it doesn’t. But in all fairness, His sacrifice is so great, so immeasurable that no one can reflect what it means properly. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try. He gave up His life for us, and what he asked in return is that we follow him and do the same. To honor the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we need to pick up our own cross and give our lives to God so that others might know the joy that we possess: God as father. Jesus gave his life, everything that he was so that we could know his joy. What will we do with it? Will we sit contently and inactive, or will we pass it on?