To set everything aside
I can never ever fully comprehend what Jesus had to go through. I cannot imagine the sacrifice He had to make to first put aside his status as God and become human. He was just getting on with his life in heaven, busy with God-matters. Everybody knew exactly who He was and everybody honoured Him as God. Jesus was quietly enjoying life in his comfort zone.
And then the instruction from God: A rescue plan had to be made to prepare the way for people to enjoy eternal life with God. Jesus had to put aside his status. He had to become human.
Jesus saw the bigger picture and was not afraid. 6He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. 7When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process.
I wonder how I would react if I get a call to leave everything and change my status to almost nothing? For the sake of a bunch of sinful humans who have completely lost the plot? I suspect I would’ve asked if there isn’t someone else who would rather do it.
God and Jesus must love us so much to have made such a plan. I am so grateful that Jesus didn’t look for someone else to come to earth in his place. I am so grateful that He was prepared to sacrifice so much to give us another chance to go to heaven.
The question is: How grateful are we? Are we grateful enough that we would sacrifice something? If asked to put aside something nice, would we do it? Time, money, honour, status, energy, sport, relaxation? Are you prepared to put anything aside to bless others?
This reminds me of Abraham. For their whole lives, he and Sara struggled because they could not have children and then God eventually blessed them with a child when they were very old. How pleased they must have been!
But then comes the call to sacrifice this beloved son, their hope for descendants. I cannot for the life of me imagine what went through Sara and Abraham’s minds. But they were totally prepared to do it. For them, obedience to God was more important than their own flesh and blood and therefore they were prepared to sacrifice Isaac.
Again the big question: Are you prepared to put aside or sacrifice what is important to you? Is obedience to God more important to you than anything on this earth? God certainly wants what is best for us and will probably not make such high demands on us. But sometimes we do things, things that we really enjoy, that come between God and us.
God is a jealous God and He doesn’t want things to come between Him and us. God expects us to keep clean the channel between Him and us. This is where we are instructed to clean up. To put aside and sacrifice what is important to us. Are you prepared to do it? Can you say, like Jesus, that other things are not important and do it?
God will have to help us, because we struggle with it.
Reflection
Are you prepared to put aside and sacrifice what is important to you for the sake of God?
What do you have to sacrifice?
How will you do it?
Prayer
Father, once again I realize how much You love me. Once again I realize how much You must have loved me to sacrifice everything. In gratitude I want to sacrifice anything that comes between me and You. Please help me to do it. Amen
