“A Sacrifice is a Contract with a Better Future” — Jordan Peterson
David said “I will not offer anything that costs me nothing” (2Sam. 24:24).
A prominent psychologist and thinker of our time, Jordan Peterson, says; “a sacrifice at present is a contract for a better future.”
What is a sacrifice? It is anything that is painful to give up. Anything that costs us something at present.
It could be your time, your money, your desires, your relationships, your pleasures, your hobbies, your habits, your sins, your likes and dislikes; anything that you want to hang on to.
When you sacrifice them, you are signing a contract for a better future! It is going to create a future which otherwise would have been non-existent. Therefore, a failure to make such a sacrifice now is also a possible contract for a miserable future.
Psalm 37:4 says; “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will fulfill the desires of your heart.”
Delighting in Lord means you are putting everything else aside in order to make God your first priority. You are willing to give up on certain things that you like in order to have God replace those things in your life at present. You don’t give up on those things reluctantly, you do it joyfully in order for them to be genuine sacrifice.
When God becomes your first priority in life, you will take time to know him. The best way to know God is to read what he has said about himself in the Bible. God reveals himself in the Bible; that is why it is called “Revelation!” Reason alone is inadequate to know God.
You will also take time to know him in your personal experience through prayer and meditation. God is not just a rational or revelational concept; he is a person who enjoys personal relationship with humans. Once you get a glimpse of God’s personal side, you will be willing to set aside a certain amount of time each day to spend with him alone.
You will also be willing to spend time with God’s children in the church and in other fellowships because it is in the context of interpersonal relationships that we discover God’s amazing grace and love.
Willing to make sacrifices means you are delighting in God; you are making a sacrifice of your time, your money and your emotional capital. You are saying no to the immediate pleasures for eternal love, joy and peace.
As you do that, God begins to bring your dreams to reality. God’s promises never fail. He fulfills what he has promised.
When we delight in him, when we are willing to make sacrifices for him, Jesus promised a hundred fold return of what we sacrificed!
Listen what he said in Mark 10: 29–30;
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age.”
“Yesterday, today, and forever Jesus is the same” says the Bible. Indeed, he never changes and his promises never fail.
There is one whole chapter in the gospel of Luke (chapter 18) where Jesus answers the prayers of so many people. Let’s name the people he answered;
- In verses 1–8: He answers the prayer of a Widow.
- In verses 9–14: He answers the prayer of a Tax Collector (considered to be a worst of sinners in those days).
- In versers 15–17: He answers the prayers of parents for their babies.
- In verses 18–30: He promises to answer hundred times to the disciples who had left everything for his sake.
- In verses 35–43: He answers the prayer of a blind beggar.
The only people who did not receive answer to their prayers were a self-righteous Pharisee and a Rich Young Ruler who loved his wealth more than God.
So, don’t allow some temporary, perishable things to rob you God’s best for your life. Lay down your life at the foot of the Cross and you will find it!
