Our sacrifice

It struck me so clearly, my struggle to understand why so many are having trouble recognizing what is the Lord’s evident truth — His truth which is ever so clear before all of us.

Too many are blinded to the truth. Too many have their eyes covered by a veil, which only our good Lord may lift. It has been my ongoing prayer that even though this is evident, real and all around, somehow our gracious Lord finds a way to relieve us of this concern we have for those who continue to refuse Him. That we may have our own burden lifted. That the Lord please spare us all from wondering why His light that we present is not being received.

Lord Jesus, please relieve us of the gnawing feeling that we have that our efforts and our actions are not enough. We can point to numerous reasons why the Lord is not showing His truth to those who seem to be so lost. And while this is nothing new, it now seems much more critical than it ever has been — serving as truly a measurement of the umbra within those we observe.

Just how much is the level of darkness that blocks their vision? What is the depth of the hole where they find themselves? Just how bad is the condition from which they cannot see the glory of His truth?

We watch them lost. We watch them wander outside the Lord’s light. We know they are in a deep hole, and yes we try and help. And when they still do not recognize, we are then again and again forced to ask ourselves, why Lord? Why are some so totally submersed that they are not able to open their own eyes?

We try to help. We try to speak to them. We try to tell them the Lord’s message of salvation through faith in Him, but they still remain outside of his understanding, stuck in evil gloom. And, for us, this then causes our own real struggle. We ask the Lord, “Am I doing enough? Lord, am I saying and am I doing the right thing?”

We want to do more, when those we love still cannot bring themselves to understand what is right before them. I say all the time, give all things to the Lord. Give all praise, give all concern, give all sin, give all things to our gracious and loving Lord. Hold nothing back. But yet, I still struggle with my own words, when I just cannot get through to someone. After all, their only requirement is to say, “Lord Jesus help me” — this serving so much as a reminder of Jesus and His ministry on earth.

Surely Jesus must have felt the same way when He spoke to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Jesus himself must have had the same struggle when his own disciples failed to learn his lessons — when Peter denied him, or when Judas betrayed our Lord.

As is always the truth, we are never alone in our struggles, and for this we give thanks. From this knowledge, we likewise come to the conclusion that this burden we have from watching others refuse His embrace, this too is part of our preparation. It is part of our relationship with our Lord. It is part of our discipleship, service,
and wisdom, but most of all it is part of our own sacrifice that we must give to our loving God.

Yet I still wonder, when Jesus told his disciples to knock the dust from their sandals and move on to the next village when they had been denied; I still wonder how hard it would have been if this village that denied the message of Christ was the home, the friends, the family of the disciple that must then move on? Then I remember that Jesus was denied by his own family, and he was denied by his own friends. The place where he had been raised denied our Lord. This was part of the sacrifice that came from Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus was perfect man and, as our example, was willing to give up all things before he went to the altar of sacrifice. So it was for the disciples, and so it must be for us — the sacrifice we must give in our complete worship of the Lord. There will be times that this will be heart-wrenching, as it is when we see so many lost and continuing to refuse His truth. But as is the nature of all adversity, struggle and pain in our lives, this is intended to strengthen. This is planned by our Lord to add to our commitment to place on the altar of worship a true sacrifice which only honors Him.    

Pastor Ben Roberts leads the congregation at First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Wyoming. To learn more contact him at pastorbenjaminroberts@gmail.com.