Offering God Purple Mink Coats

Suggested Reading: Malachi 1:6-14

I was flipping through the channels recently and discovered an old favorite, Sister Act. In the movie Whoopi Goldberg stars as Delores, a Reno lounge singer who is having an affair with the underworld kingpin running the casino in which she sings. After making her angry, her married boyfriend sends her a gift which almost wins her back, a purple mink coat. The gift works until she finds his wife's name embroidered inside and realizes that not only has he given her his wife's coat but it was probably one she wouldn't miss, a gift that cost nothing to give.

Unfortunately, at times, we treat God the same way Delores's married boyfriend treated her, giving God the leftovers that we won't miss. In Malachi chapter 1, the Old Testament prophet saw his people making sub-par offerings to God, bringing God the things they wouldn't use anyway, the things they wouldn't miss. God spoke through the prophet, saying, “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts (Malachi 1:8, HCSB). The people brought their offerings to God, but they only brought the things they weren't going to use, the leftovers; the things that wouldn't actually cost them anything.  

How often do we offer God our own sloppy seconds? How often do we give God our leftovers or the things we're not going to use? Do we give our financial offerings after all our other bills have been paid and we know what we have leftover? Do we wait to commit our time until we have scheduled in all of our work obligations and sports games and leisure time, giving God whatever time is left? Do we set aside time to spend with God in prayer and Bible study or do we just try to fit it in around everything else we actually plan for? Do we want to work for God but tire ourselves out so that God only gets whatever energy we haven't yet used?

Our Heavenly Father, who offered us the best he had to give, His only Son, deserves our first and our best. Don't offer God your leftovers. God can tell when we give him only what we're not going to miss.

Letting Someone Sacrifice You

Suggested Reading: Genesis 22:1-19

When I was in college, I had a very close female friend and the two of us were "not dating." One night I met up with her briefly before she ran off to do something else and God spoke to me very clearly, letting me know that she was going to "lay me on the altar." The next day when she wanted to talk to me, she used those exact words, "I'm laying you on the altar." Having been prepared for the conversation, I was able to handle it fairly well. But I also began to think a lot about an often overlooked biblical character, Isaac.

Not long after God assured Abraham that Ishmael would be taken care of and had him sent away, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a way of testing Abraham. Being well over 100 years old, Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice up a mountain.  Isaac was knowledgeable enough about the sacrificial process to ask his father where the sacrifice actually was since they had not taken one with them. Then when they reached the top of the mountain, Isaac did something extraordinary. When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood (Genesis 22:9, NLT). Did you catch that? This young man who was strong enough to carry firewood up a mountain and smart enough to know what was going on allowed a man 100 years his senior to tie him up and prepare him as a sacrifice!

Sometimes, the people around us have to experience some difficult things. Sometimes they have to give things up in order to grow and mature. Sometimes they have to let go of things that interfere with their relationship with God. And sometimes that something they have to let go of is us.

One thing that being Christ-like means is being willing to be sacrificed for someone else's good, which is very different than sacrificing for someone else's good. When we sacrifice, we make the choice to give something up or endure some pain. When we are sacrificed, someone else makes the choice and we have to live with being giving up or enduring the pain. Isaac allowed himself to be sacrificed in much the same way that Jesus allowed the people of his day to put him on a cross. Both men could have stopped the events and chose not to.

Maybe, today, you are being sacrificed. Maybe someone is in the process of giving you up or leaving you behind because doing so is necessary for them to grow up or move on with their lives. If so, let me tell you that being sacrificed is never fun; it can leave you feeling rejected, unappreciated and undervalued. But if you make the choice to allow yourself to be sacrificed, if you can choose to accept the heartache and pain for someone else's good, you will be at least one step closer to knowing what Jesus went through and who Jesus really is. And you will be practicing a love that is concerned with the other person rather than with yourself.

The next time you are sacrificed, how will you respond? Will you focus on the feelings of hurt? Or will you find a way to embrace the suffering for someone else's good?