Of Sacrifice & Virtue ~ A
Sacrifice is known as a very fearful thing. It looms as a gaping abyss upon the evangelical landscape.
But, sacrifice is the spiritual life-breath to any forward-moving believer.
They pursue the thirsts of the soul (not the bleatings of the flesh), even at the sacrificial expense of tasks or the costs of time and money. For will not sacrifice still ring true until Jesus returns?...
he who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33)
Are not the thirsts of the soul a continual drawing of the Lord into His presence? The thirsts of the soul rise in that waiting heart which is desiring to commune with God.
The sacrifice that leads to the Lord's presence is a divinely ordained surrender that offers far more than it requires.
It is within the Lord's presence I learn and then choose the pursuit of virtue. The seeking of virtue (sadly) is today unknown, unspoken. It is that unobserved dignity which surpasses the earth.
When a man has so sacrificed in life that his soul yearns for heaven alone he has achieved victory over the flesh.
God's reciprocity to the sacrifice for His presence, is to multiply blessings and to lift burdens. These are His gifts for His own; those called, chosen and agreeing with Him.
The Lord watches over them for their good, to heal their hearts and bodies, to prosper them and not tear them down. They are filled with the good things from His house. (See Psalm 65:4)
It is too simple to want the gifts of the Lord, but carry little interest to know His mind and gaze into His eyes. Such is a dry soul and a shrivelled heart. Yet Jesus still offers to water shrunken hearts.
Jesus taught His first sermon on virtue, the Sermon on the Mount. He watered His new disciples' hearts.
Satan's first sermon was in Eve's ear. The topic was not virtue but vice, to distrust God. He has taught this upon earth ever since Eden. His first lesson is his only lesson. The virtue of trust he replaced with the seductions of vice - indulgence not denial.
Is there truly any learning and then living of virtue without first the choice of sacrifice?
Sacrifice is THE way of the pilgrim, they will travel many stony paths and turn from none of them.
Today's Soul Snippet:
'Meditation has a digesting power and turns special truths into nourishment'. ~ anon
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