Pieces

 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Romans 12:1

Writer and author Bob Goff tells the story of a young girl who was diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease. After extensive testing, it was determined that she would need a complete blood transfusion in order to survive. Finding a match donor proved to be very difficult. The parents were tested but the results were negative. Finally, it came down to her little brother, who was a match. The parents kept this news to themselves, but after a short time, as the situation worsened, they talked to their young son and told him of the need. He asked for a night to think about it, and then agreed. When the day came, and as he lay on a bed next to his sister, he waved the Doctor in charge over. As the Doctor stood at the side of the bed, the little boy asked, "How soon will it be before I die?" Goff writes, "The little boy thought that in helping his sister he would have to give up his own life. He said yes anyway."

Someone once asked, "Why is it that God only seems to get our lives in pieces?" Why is it that in response to the one who has given us "all things," including Himself, that we are so reluctant to give all of ourselves in return? There always seems to be a limit on what we'll give, a limit on what we're willing to sacrifice. That limit almost always comes when comfort zones and outward securities are threatened. We give up to a tithe. We serve up to a limit. We make ourselves available to Him, but with terms applied. We're willing to follow Him, but only after He shares with us just where it is He's leading. There's an old hymn that asks, "Is your all on the altar?" All of ourselves, no conditions, no limitations. All really means all. Few of us sign up for such a relationship.

We're willing to give ourselves to Him in pieces, and almost always pieces we feel can afford to give. That which costs us everything is far too often held back. King David, when he wanted to purchase a piece of land in order to offer sacrifice to his God, was offered the land for nothing. David refused that, saying, "I will not offer to Him a sacrifice that costs me nothing." How deeply ingrained is that sacrificial spirit ingrained in you and I?

In my 40 plus years of serving Him I've seen a lot. I've witnessed the lives of many of His choice men and women. I have witnessed some who have not placed limits on what they offer Him. Some who have determined that if a need is presented to them, their only response can be to offer themselves in some capacity as an answer to the need. They do it not so much for the sake of the one in need as they do for the One to whom they have given all of themselves to. There is no matter of pieces of themselves with Him. That matter has been settled. They are those who long ago decided that they would be living sacrifices for Him. Just as Christ, on His cross, was for them. As He was for you and me.

Is He simply getting pieces of you or does He have all of you? How much of you, of me, is really His?

Blessings,
Pastor O