Sweet Sacrifices To God

I've been cooking a big pot of rich, fresh vegetable barley stew with some beef all afternoon, as dark, gloomy, rainy days tend to inspire me to do. The very smells of celery, cilantro, parsley, mushrooms, cauliflower, a bit of broccoli, red and green bell peppers, lentils, potatoes, carrots, corn, onions, spices and stew meat lifts my spirits. It's an encouraging and friendly smell, that draws everyone who comes in, straight to the kitchen, to lift the lid, and peek in to see what they will get to taste later. A delicious smell certainly makes a person hungry. It is a sweet savour, as the Bible explains. So when I got it all chopped, in the pot, and simmering cheerily, I went to hunt up the word "savour" in the Strong's concordance.

I found that the subject of a sacrifice by fire, being a sweet savour to the Lord appears at least 37 times in the Bible. Now this was not surprising to me, having been raising in a Christian, Bible-studying home, but something new did occur to me while I was reading.

I have known since I was a small girl, about the sacrifice that Jesus made for me. His love, His death to save me from my sins, His resurrection, and His promise to come again and take me to Heaven. But I have only recently become aware that I could give a sacrifice to Him. In the dictionary, one meaning of sacrifice is: 2a. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim. 2b. Something so forfeited. But forfeiture means to let something go. What do I have to give? What do I have that I could let go? I've given this enormous thought during the past year.

I have come to believe that if I have a great sorrow or deep disappointment of one kind or another, after I struggle through the grief, I am given the rare and marvelous opportunity to gather it up in my mind, and offer it to God, as a gift, or, a sacrifice. I don't have to understand why the heartbreak happened. I just need to trust my loving Heavenly Father, that He will work through it, into good, because I love Him. That is God's promise. And it means that I want with all my heart, to accept the grief as a trial allowed me by God for my own good. Only by accepting, do I find it in my hands to give back to God. I can see how it is a sacrifice by fire indeed, for me to accept my heartbreak, and thus become able to give it to the Lord. (And this does not mean I will not feel sad. But God is close beside me, to help me through the sadness.) Many heartbreaks are so excruciatingly painful that the phrase "by fire" seems completely appropriate. I am told that a severe burn is the worst physical pain a human being can endure. When we give something to God, whether it be an anguished unfulfilled longing, a natural disaster, any kind of loss, or anything at all, as a gift, a sacrifice, in submission and love, this sacrifice must also be a sweet, sweet savour to Him. It is a humble and loving act, and shows Him that I trust His judgement, and accept what He has allowed.

Though Jesus came, and died to pay the price for our sins so people no longer have to burn sacrifices to the Lord, we still can offer sacrifices out of love for Christ.

I believe that each time we grow to comprehend something God is telling us, it is as a savour to us, and also to Him. The sweeter the smell of a wonderful dinner cooking, the hungrier we grow. The deeper our understanding grows, of spiritual things, the keener our desire to learn more, and partake of new blessings. For comprehending what God is saying to us, is a blessing like no other. The greatest blessing of all.

Thank you, Father God, for helping me to triumph, each time I learn to understand another part of the sweetness and tremendous relief of Your knowledge, and the blessing of submission to You.

* 2 Cor. 2:14 Now thanks [be] unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

This subject is very new to me, but I will be studying it further. I have a keen yearning to offer gifts, sacrifices, to my loving Heavenly Father, Who has given me so many blessings. And my spirit is open to His guidance.