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Jun 18, 2020 14:00pm

Becoming a Sacrifice

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On August 3, 2012, Shaun and I promised to love, honor and cherish one another for the rest of our lives before God and our friends and family. Then, together, we walked down the aisle, passing between those who witnessed our union, to seal our covenant.

I’ve always loved symbolism – especially when it comes to the wedding ceremony. The act of walking the aisle dates back even to Genesis when God makes His covenant with Abram to give him the promised land.

“But he said, ‘Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?’ He said to him, ‘Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ So, he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him…. When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.’” (Genesis 15:8-10; 17-21)

The animals were the sacrifice. Dividing them and laying them to the side represented the cost that would occur if the covenant was broken and the fire consumed the sacrifice as an offering.

But notice this… God was the only one who passed between the pieces. Abram didn’t pass.

This was a promise God made to him and it was solely on the Lord to keep His oath.

Christ offers that same promise to us because He himself became the sacrifice, the offering unto the Lord for our sins. His death was a promise of our salvation if we would simply trust in Him alone.

Today, are you honoring your covenant with Christ?

If you have accepted Him as your Savior, you have a duty to be holy, to be set apart from the rest of this world for His glory. Does the way you act, speak dress glorify Jesus? What about your thoughts or the things you participate in or associate with?

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” (Romans 12:1)