A Living Sacrifice

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
ESV Romans 12:1

(Continuing in a series, today we’ll look at the third of the “Four Essentials for Finishing Well” that I picked up from Jerry Bridges at a fall conference.)

So far, we have looked at the need for daily communion with God and the need for a daily appropriation of the Gospel in our lives. Today, we’ll look at another “essential to finishing well;” a daily commitment to God as a living sacrifice.

Question: Do you flirt? Be honest now... I suppose some explanation and more detail is in order at this point. First, let’s define flirt: to pay amorous attention to someone without serious intentions or emotional commitment; play at love; to trifle or toy (definitions courtesy of www.yourdictionary.com). Secondly, the question is specifically referring to your relationship with Christ and His Church. So, the question is more accurately stated: Do you flirt with Church? In other words, do you act as though you love the Church, but secretly lack an emotional commitment to it?

A related question regarding your relationship to the Church is in regards to your level of participation. Do you contribute to Christ’s Church or are you committed to it? There is a real difference between mere contribution and commitment. An old breakfast tale is a good example. Think of sitting down to a breakfast of eggs (over medium with a little lace on the edges) bacon (fried just right) and all the fixins. (Stay with me now and don’t let your mind drift to Grandma’s or Cracker Barrel.) Now, looking at your breakfast, note that the chicken contributed the eggs but the hog committed his life for your bacon. Again, are you committed to Christ and His Church or do you simply contribute (flirt)?

In the Old Testament, we find a Mosaic sacrifice that was known as the “burnt offering.” Here, an animal was sacrificed and its flesh was totally consumed by the fire at the altar. You could say that those animals were committed in that ritual. And I think that Paul had the burnt offering in mind when he penned this verse in Romans. To be a living sacrifice is to be totally committed.

But why? Why be a living sacrifice to God? Because God, being rich in mercy, offered Christ as a sacrifice for your sins. Likewise, because of God’s mercy in salvation, He demands that we give all of ourselves to Him. Christians have not been called to a flirtatious relationship with God. Scripture demands commitment.

It sounds tough, but it’s actually liberating. You may recall that Mr. Bridges, now in his late seventies, was lecturing on “finishing well” in the Christian walk. On this thought, of being a living sacrifice, he made a comment that I won’t soon forget: “When we look at each day as a day as God’s servant, the noise of the day is less tiresome. The day is God’s to do with as He chooses.”

Daily Appropriation of the Gospel

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
ESV Galatians 2:20

(Continuing in a series, today we’ll look at the second of the “Four Essentials for Finishing Well” that I picked up from Jerry Bridges at a fall conference.)

In a previous article, mention was made about two instruments used for guidance; a compass and a sextant. The compass of course is used to aid in land travel and the sextant is an instrument used to aid vessels navigating open waters. Both are most invaluable tools for travel.

Do you suppose that the Captain of an ocean going freighter crossing the Pacific, after taking painstakingly careful measurements and plotting his course, would toss his sextant overboard; supremely confident that he would have no further use for it on his voyage? Well of course not. The instrument would be carefully stowed for easy retrieval as it would be used at regular intervals during the voyage ahead.

What about a hiker and his compass? The same would be true. After taking care to ascertain position and direction of travel, the hiker would not leave his compass by the trail. Quiet the contrary! He would keep it close at hand and consult it often as he trekked on to his destination in order to make sure he stayed on the correct path.

As odd as it may seem, these two examples tie in with our text today. In a spiritual sense, Christians experience three “tenses” of salvation. At the moment we believed in Christ, we were saved from the penalty of sin; past tense. As we persevere in the faith, the Holy Spirit grants us salvation from the power and dominion of sin; present tense. Sometime in the future, Christ will finally and completely save us from the very presence of sin; future tense. And of course all three tenses (past, present and future) of salvation were paid for with the blood of Christ. That is the Gospel. That is the Good News. That Christ died in my (your) stead so that I (you) might have eternal life; salvation.

And my point is this: The Gospel (that Christ died for you and me) was invaluable to me at the time of my salvation. But the Gospel cannot be tossed aside now that I have been saved from the penalty of sin because it is the same Gospel that now frees me from the dominion of sin. And ultimately, it will be the same Gospel that liberates me from the very presence of sin. You see, the Gospel is a very present reality. And just like a Captain needs a sextant to hold his heading, just like a hiker needs a compass to stay on the correct path, Christians need a daily appropriation of the Gospel in order to stay the course and persevere in the faith; to finish well.

By daily reflecting on the Gospel, Christians are both humbled and reminded that the life we now live is lived through the power and blood of Christ. The Gospel is a very present reality in a Christian’s life and every Christian needs a daily appropriation of the Gospel.

-Ken Askew

Communion with God

A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ESV Psalm 63:1

(Continuing with our summary from last week, I want to look at the first of “Four Essentials for Finishing Well” that I picked up from Jerry Bridges at a conference.)

Many of you know that I love to hike in the Sipsey Wilderness area of the Bankhead Forest. And those of you who enjoy the same know what I mean when I say that sometimes you have to pause and “get your bearings.” Meaning of course, that you wish to give some thought as to where you are and what path to take next in order to reach your destination. Many times I find myself using a map, compass, or both to help me get there.

Now, I’ve never navigated on the open water, but I’m told that an instrument called a sextant is used to take angular measurements of celestial objects in relation to the horizon to determine the position of a vessel in open waters. Having determined the ship’s position, the captain can plot and/or adjust course in order to reach a particular destination.

Funny thing about the forest, sometimes all the trails and trees begin to look alike. The shadows are different in the evening than in the morning; rain and wind change the trail during the day; one hill begins to look like another. Did I pass here before? What was that sound? Do I turn to the left or to the right? You get the picture… Questions like these make you glad you have a map and compass to keep you on the proper path.

Navigating open water must be even more challenging. The wind and currents are constantly altering a ship’s course; even if only slightly. It’s this constant drift from course that requires that the captain confirm his position using the sextant and map. Knowing his current position, the captain can adjust his headings accordingly to stay on course.

The Christian life is similar in many ways. The Bible is plain enough on most things and it is the completely trustworthy rule and guide of our faith. But the pressures of this world are constantly at work to push us off course or onto the wrong path. Left unchecked, those pressures will silently and evermore progressively steer our lives off course. Gradually we begin to succumb to questions like “Did God really say…?” When we allow those questions to take hold, we find ourselves going down the wrong path.

And that is precisely why we need a daily, focused time of communion with God; so that we make choices pleasing to God and in accord with His word. To David, daily communion with God was necessary and was to be desired like life-sustaining daily portions water in the hot desert. Do you have a thirst for God?

-Ken Askew

Walking With God

“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” ESV Genesis 5:24

Back in the fall, I attended a Christian conference in Minneapolis. One of the speakers was an elderly gentleman named Jerry Bridges. I had seen his name on occasion and knew that he had written a book or two, but I had not become acquainted with his writing and had never heard him speak. Little did I know that I was in for a treat.

Now well into his seventies, Mr. Bridges is a very unassuming character and very humble in his speech. He walks with a slight stoop, but his gait is quick and his mind is sharp. His ministry is not pastoral, but what is termed “lay” ministry. He has toiled and persevered in that same ministry for over 50 years with an organization called The Navigators.

Mr. Bridges’ speech that day was titled: Four Essentials for Finishing Well. As the title indicates, his speech pointed out four essentials to living a Christian life to the very end. Now think with me for a moment. Here’s a guy, highly revered in Christian circles, well into his seventies who has been in ministry at the same place for over 50 years. He’s working every day at an age when most have entered retirement and now he’s about to speak to me about what it takes to “finish well;” he had my attention.

I’ll paraphrase his four points today. In the coming weeks I’ll expound on them some more. According to Mr. Bridges:

The first essential to finishing well is to have daily, focused communion with God. Mr. Bridges alluded to the fact that there is indeed a difference between communing with God and simply skimming a section of His word.

The second essential to finishing well is to have a daily appropriation of the gospel. Mr. Bridges noted specifically that the gospel of Jesus Christ was not just for lost people; believers need the gospel too! He pointed to the life of the Apostle Paul for whom the gospel was not just a past event, but a present reality.

The third essential Mr. Bridges articulated was that we must make a daily commitment to God as a living sacrifice. He appropriately noted that if we look at each day as a day as God’s servant, the noise of the day is less tiresome.

His final point was that to finish strong, we need a firm belief in God’s sovereignty. Living each day with the knowledge that God is all knowing, all powerful and perfect in every way keeps us from becoming bitter.

Enoch walked with God. I have no doubt that Mr. Bridges strives daily to walk with God. It should be the desire of each of us to do the same so that when we come to rest it can be said of us: ________ walked with God.

The Biggest Loser

“When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”
ESV Luke 18:22-23

Melisa and I were eating out the other night, getting in one of our last unrestricted meals prior to New Years, when the subject of The Biggest Loser came up. Now, for the uninformed (me being amongst you) The Biggest Loser is a TV show/contest. I don’t know exactly how the game is played, but apparently it involves weight loss and some guy named Bill just won the game for the season. The things we amuse ourselves with…

I suspect that weight loss will be a hot topic for a lot of folks as we begin a new year with fresh resolutions to uphold. Of course, it will be one of many resolutions abandoned early on when wishful thinking is confronted with reality.

Anyway, the name of the show kept ringing in my ears; The Biggest Loser. And I got to thinking, who is a big loser; really? Who is The biggest loser? As I pondered the question, one person from scripture stood out as a prime example. He is the rich ruler from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke identifies the person as a ruler which would suggest that he was blessed with earthly riches. This ruler makes inquiry unto Jesus, asking “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” After a short interaction, we get to our text where Jesus tells him to abandon his earthy treasure and follow him. Sadly, the text does not give us any indication that the ruler followed through in following Jesus.

Here’s my point. The ruler had come face-to-face with Jesus; God in the flesh. The ruler had asked the most important question that anyone can ask. And rather than being overcome with joy at discovering the answer, he has become sad because the answer Jesus gave was contrary to his lifestyle and the desires of his heart. I think the text lends itself to concluding that the ruler left without accepting Jesus’ terms. In doing so, he left as the biggest loser.

Yet how many folks who will see this paper and do the same thing? Think about it. We are confronted daily with the truth that Jesus Christ is the only means of eternal life. Without his perfect sacrifice and triumph over death, we would be without hope of eternal life. And still many will stubbornly and unrepentantly ignore this truth to their own demise; content with the status quo.

Jim Elliot got it right when he said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” You see, in reality losers are content with the status quo while winners willing, happily place their faith and eternal hope in Christ alone; treasuring, worshipping and exalting Him as their most prized possession.

Resolve today to follow Christ. What a great way to start the new year!

-Ken Askew