Today I am going to speak about something that is present in all the blessings and changing on my life: Sacrifice.
I was meditating upon a passage in the Book of Leviticus:
"...Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron each took his cencer and put fire in it, put the incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord..." Leviticus 10.1-2
Can you realize how strong this passage is?
You can even say, but they were presenting sacrifice to the Lord.
Yes it is true but the Word of God tell us that the sacrifice was considered by God as "...profane fire...".
Reading this verses, I was thinking about the Campaign of Israel. I am really sure that few times I have not presented what God was asking me. Why? Because I did not had the courage to do it.
And by reading this passage I realized one thing: my spiritual life was really affected by doing that. God did not killed me but I end up by "killing" myself, my spiritual life.
God did not accepted my "sacrifice" as a sacrifice but as one offering.
And worst, I can even imagine how disappointed God was with me.
Today I know that if God asks for something is because WE ARE ABLE TO DO IT, TO PRESENT IT, TO SACRIFICE IT.
He will never ask me what I will not be able to atchive.
And this happen to so many people. They thing that they can do it in the way they want, not the way God asks and wants. After all, who will know, they think.
Two things can lead the people to such "behavior": or they not even stopped to hear the voice of God or they heard Him but did not had the courage to believe and sacrifice.
Nadab and Abihu did what, at his on eyes, was correct and end up dead.
When we do what it seems that it is correct to our eyes, we end up "dead" and frustrated saying that God has not done nothing.
But how to know if the sacrifice we do is the one God is asking? How can we be sure that is not only me thinking?
When God asks there is no space for doubts. He will ask you what will cost you the most to give. The blessing we want to atchive has a much greater value.
He will ask what you were not expecting to be asked.
And then it depend on you, on your faith and in how much you really want to atchive your blessing.
He asks for something "small" compared with what you want.
The
confirmation that the sacrifice you are presenting to God was what God asked
you to present is the pain you will fell inside of you.
I remember one of the Campaign of Israel that I participated, as always, I asked God to speak with me to show me what would be for me a sacrifice to change my Financial life.
I was really tired of earning what I was earning. That
was not glorifying God in anything.
And He spoke with me, he asked me to make my spiritual sacrifice, my physical sacrifice and my financial sacrifice. The last one He, God, asked me to give to him two times the amount I had presented on the last Campaign.
I can tell you that the amount was 3 times the amount of my monthly salary. That day, I remember until today, I swallow, took a deep breath and said here I am.
I start building my sacrifice. Was not easy, believe me, not easy at all. One week before the day that I would had to present it on the Altar, I asked God,once more, to tell me if that was not my perfect sacrifice what else do He wanted from me? What else could I do to add?
By this that time I had already raised almost all my financial sacrifice.
And again His voice was very clear.....the words that came out from my mouth were "Oh my God, no, not that".
Some weeks before the Campaign started I bought my first computer and a beautiful printer that was also a scanner and a photo printer. I was so happy.
And God asked me for the printer. I could not believe, I wanted that so much, I was going to pay it in installments because I wanted the best and had no way of purchase it at once.
But if that was what God wanted me to add to my financial sacrifice, I would do it. My mother (she only discovered why I sacrificed the printer few weeks ago, and today she understands it very well) she was totally against me. She told me "How can you do that?" But I did. Was the last thing I put on the Altar, but I put it.
The result, exactly one year after, August 2008, I was working in a company in Ireland earning the exact same amount I had sacrificed on the Altar, plus bonus.
I learned that when we sacrifice to God, not what we want but what He asks from me, my sacrifice has the power to change and transform my life.
And my spiritual life will not be dead, on the opposite, my spiritual life will get stronger.
Through my sacrifices I was able to conquer a better job on a better company, a beautiful relationship with my mother that before never existed, I conquered my love live blessing, and today, my husband and me, together have been conquering, step by step the life we know will glorify God.
I hope I had explained myself well to you with this post.
God bless you
Ana Santos
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