What Are You Sacrificing?

I was reading about Abraham’s sacrificing Isaac a few days ago. Here was a man (Abraham) who had everything a man of his time could want except one thing (a son). God Himself speaks with Abraham and gives him a son. That's got to be a pretty good life, to be able to talk to God and to know that He's giving you what you want most in life. But only a few chapters later, you read about Abraham taking Isaac to a mountain in Moriah to sacrifice his only son. Abraham wasn't the only one who made dire sacrifices for God in the Bible. Hosea married a prostitute. God told Jeremiah not to marry or have any children. Ezekiel was married but was told not to mourn his wife when she died. Talk about sacrificing your family for your work!

The Bible is full of stories about people's sacrificing. That got me thinking, what are we really sacrifcing? Romans instructs us to be living sacrifices, but what does that really mean? For one thing, it means that your time and your money are God's, not your own. It means that you have to be willing to be unpopular or outcast at work, if that's what God requires of you. It almost certainly means that you'll be uncomfortable at times (see the awkwardness post from Monday).

What are you sacrificing for God at work? If you can't answer that question right now, perhaps you should pay attention how you spend your time and energy.