Today is Good Friday. We mark it on the calendar to remember the most important sacrifice of all time--the death of Jesus, and the beginning of our salvation, which was accomplished on Easter.
This started me thinking about sacrifice and its meaning. If you take all of the dictionary and online definitions together and boil them down to one statement, to sacrifice is to deliberately give up something (or someone) in order to gain something of greater value. Historically, that would be bloodless offerings or the killing of animals or humans to appease various deities, including God. This goes all the way back to the original sacrifices by Cain and Abel, which led to the first murder on record (God rejected Cain's sacrifice, and a jealous Cain killed his brother Abel). Many people gave up their lives to save the lives of others, particularly in battle. Parents have been known to give up their own meals in order to keep their children fed. Sacrifice is even used in games like chess (sacrificing a key piece to gain the ultimate advantage) and baseball ( a batter giving up an out to advance the baserunner).
There are many levels of sacrifice. In my family, my dad didn't become a Christian til after his marriage. When he did, he learned to put Christ first, even to the detriment of his career. He had caught the eye of management in the company he worked for. They offered him a major promotion, but it would have meant working nights (2 -10 PM), so that he would have less time to spend with his family, and no time during the week for church activities. Dad prayed and talked with Mom for weeks before making the difficult decision to turn down the promotion. They told him he would never have another opportunity like that again, and they were right. Dad continued working for the company til he retired. He also had the time he wanted for his family and his work for the church. While finances were a bit tight at times as his family grew, Dad never regretted the sacrifice of money or position in his career.
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