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ADVENT REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is symbols of sacrifice. A symbol is a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract. A sacrifice is an act of slaughtering an animal or surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity. Symbols of sacrifice are valuable things we give to God as our offering to Him in response to our salvation and the covenant relationship we have with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ.

What are the symbols of sacrifice Christians must offer to God? Dear friend, the greatest symbols of sacrifice believers must offer to God are their bodies or lives. Nothing is more valuable than our bodies in this world, indeed the greatest gift God ever gave to us for our survival on earth is life. This life resides in the body, therefore, offering one’s body as a symbol of sacrifice pleases God the most. God however took the lead by first offering His Son as the greatest symbol of sacrifice so that we shall be saved. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). John the Baptist, rightly revealed that Jesus was a symbol of Sacrifice when he said “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In other words, Jesus was the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sin of the world. If God has shown us mercy through the sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ, what then must we offer back to Him as our symbols of sacrifice and worship? Paul gives us the answer in Romans 12:1 when he wrote that “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”. Our bodies have been cleansed through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to now offer our bodies as symbols of sacrifice to God as our spiritual worship.

When we offer our bodies as symbols of sacrifice to God, He accepts them and indwells in them. It is for this reason, Paul again admonishes us through his letter to the Corinthians that “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Offering or honouring God with our bodies is not only a Sunday affair, it is a daily sacrifice. Many Christians have the erroneous impression that Sunday is the holiest day of the week which requires us to appear before God to offer our bodies as symbols of sacrifice during church service. Beloved in the Lord, in as much as it is true that any time we come for corporate worship service, the first thing we offer to God as sacrifice is our body, we are also to be mindful of the fact that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices or symbols of sacrifice 24 hours a day, all the days of the month and in all the months of the year. Going to church during festive occasions such as Christmas, the first Sunday of the year, Good Friday and Easter Sunday does not amount to offering one’s body as a symbol of sacrifice to God. Offering ourselves as symbols of sacrifice is to live a life of stewardship acknowledging God as the giver of life and offering to Him everything we borrowed from Him. We are to worship Him with all that we are and all that we have in response to His faithfulness, love and grace over our lives. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, strengthen us to continually offer our bodies and all that we have as symbols of sacrifice to God as our daily spiritual worship. Amen.