Fri.’s Devo - Sacrifice

Read: Joshua 15:1-63; Luke 18:18-43; Psalm 86:1-17; Proverbs 13:9-10
Judah was to receive the largest land because they had the most people. Jerusalem was included in Judah’s inheritance. They could not drive out the Jebusites which continued to dwell with them.
This is still happening today. Jerusalem is divided among four groups of people: the Armenians, the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians. Sadly the Muslims own the greater portion, the Christians the next largest then the Armenians and the Jewish own about the same amount.
Caleb was the leader of the tribe of Judah at the time. Amazing how what they did then affects what is happening now. If we would realize the significance of the way we live our lives now and how it will affect our posterity for generations, we might change some things we do. We don’t do natural sacrifices now but we do do spiritual sacrifices. Every decision is like a sacrifice in the Old Testament and the amount of times we choose God’s way over our own selfish desires is like offering a sacrifice on the altar which atones for much. We are still taking territory, that territory just doesn’t look like physical land. It looks like peace, joy, confidence in God, favor, righteousness, etc. What a great gift to pass down to your grand kids.
In Luke, Jesus was asked, what should a person do to inherit eternal life. Since this person was a teacher of the law, Jesus told him to obey the 10 Commandments. He told Jesus he had obeyed them since he was a child. So Jesus told him that he had one final thing he must do: sell everything and come and follow him. The man left, sad because he was very rich and had much to lose.
Jesus explained that it was very hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God which seemed impossible for the disciples to hear. They asked him, then who can be saved? Jesus answered that what was impossible with people was possible with God.
Jesus demonstrated it with the blind man. When the blind man was told that Jesus was passing by, he yelled out for mercy. He was told to be quiet, but he yelled louder, to get Jesus’ attention. He was in an impossible situation, but desperate. Jesus stopped and healed him and now he could see.
It was not the rich that can’t come into the kingdom as much as it is the people who are “filled” and have no need. You can be rich and understand that you still have a need.
The rich man in the story had no need. The blind man had a great need. The rich man left without salvation and the blind man was left being able to see.
The disciples were rich in that they had Jesus with them but when he told them what was about to happen, they couldn’t see. They were full and couldn’t receive any more. They would have to lose it all to find salvation. The good news is that eleven of them did.
Lord, help us to lay down all of our life for you. May the sacrifices we make now atone for much for our future generations.