His Sacrifice

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1 Peter 1:18-20 NIV

Sometimes our devotion to God waivers because we forget that He made a sacrifice for our salvation. We have the perception that everything is easy for God, so we grow upset with Him when things are difficult for us. We feel shortchanged because we don’t understand why He’d make things so hard for us if He can do things without trouble.
      In our frustration, we think, “Why would He let me be so attracted to things, if they draw me away from Him? Why doesn’t He just take it away?” Yet, when someone makes a comment about how God controls our lives and our every action, we grow upset. First, because we know that’s not the kind of God we follow and that they have a misconception about Him. Second, because for at least a moment, we fear there’s truth in that statement.
      If we didn’t have free will, then there would be little difference between us and dolls. We want to know that we make our own choices.
      The great news is we do. God allows us to have free will, and that’s why we make bad choices. We can’t blame Him for letting us make the choice to love and obey Him or not. It wouldn’t be love if He forced it.
      We forget the intensity of God’s love for us. It hurts Him to watch us suffer. That’s why He sends healing our way. He turns the darkness in our lives into light and allows us to be further healed by using us to help others through the same things.
      It hurt Him to even think that we had little chance to be with Him and that’s why He sent Jesus as a sacrifice. He wants us. He loves us.
      It wasn’t like God just created Jesus to be sacrificed. Jesus had been with Him since the beginning. When He sent Him, He was truly sacrificing someone precious to Him. He was laying down a part of Himself for us.
      This is the gravity of what God did for us. It’s not just us making sacrifices for our salvation. God made many too. We just forget because His came first and He’s already seen His part through while we are still trying to see ours through.
      Don’t give up on Him. He’s given so much just to be with you some day. He doesn’t take your existence lightly. He adores you. You’re not just another face in the crowd. Live with purpose. He has made the preparations and has the date set for you two to finally be together so there can be no boundaries to the love you can lavish on each other. Don’t miss it because you forgot how much you mean to Him. Search for it yourself. He’ll give you a peek at what He’s done for you if you seek Him.
      It will humble you how much He’s done for you even beyond the crucifixion.