He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.
Jim Elliot
On January 8, 1956 five men stepped into eternity, having given their lives for the Lord they loved. Over the last few days my heart has dwelt on the issue of sacrifice, and I have come to one conclusion. Sacrifice requires total surrender. There can be no half hearted sacrifice to the Lord and still consider it a worthy sacrifice. Everything that I am and have is required to be surrendered on the altar of sacrifice, there to be consumed as a sweet smelling offering to the Lord who gave it all to me. My wife, my sons, my job, my ministry, my finances, my troubles, my triumphs – all of it, everything that makes me who I am is to be laid there, and my hands removed from those precious articles. There can be no turning back. There can be no second thoughts. There can be no taking back of the things that I cherish most if I am to be like Christ. The world considers it foolish to give up all to gain Christ – a foolish, childish crutch that hinders the true growth of man into what man ought to be, his own god. Then I will be a fool. For it is Christ that I desire most. It is His likeness that I so wish to be transformed into. Not that of any other man, for that would be a false god. I choose Christ. I choose to let go of the hurts and the anguish and strive against the flesh that seeks to drive me from the long pursuit of that one great goal – Christ. I choose the road of sacrifice and surrender. I choose that difficult pursuit of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord with the glorious understanding that knowing Christ Jesus is far more valuable than any amount of money that can fill my bank account or any building in which I could live.
All must go on the altar so that all might be given to the only One who can keep it properly. In giving all to God, faith becomes the driver, and I become the passenger holding on for the wild and thrilling ride of trusting and knowing God will provide all that I need and could only imagine. Without sacrifice, faith is not faith. It is a misguided trust in something that means very little. But, sacrificing all we have lays the burden of provision on the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Let Him give me what I need. Let me daily come to the altar of God and lay upon it all that I am and all that I have to be consumed by the fire of God.
Saturate me with the oil of Thy Spirit, that I may be aflame. Make me Thy fuel, O flame of God.
Jim Elliot
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Paul the Apostle
Philippians 3:8-11
