“Let
Our Sacrifice Be in Your Presence” by Melanie Rigney
“So, let our sacrifice
be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in
you cannot be put to shame.” (Daniel 3:40)
Remember your mercies, O Lord. (Psalm
25:6a)
“His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked
servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you
not have pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’” (Matthew 18:32-33)
Piety
Lord, let me cast off my
reservations and follow.
Study
Three months ago, when I looked at
the calendar and saw that I would be writing a Daily Tripod on St. Patrick’s
Day, I started thinking about what story I would share today: The tale of how
my rapscallion Irish great-grandfather tricked his beloved into thinking they
were married? The story of how Manny, the-best-dog-who-ever-lived, in the
minute I was not in the kitchen gobbled down about half the green-tinted
shamrock cookies I’d made for work? Surely, I could figure out a way to relate
the day’s scripture to one of them.
Except then came coronavirus, and
breathtaking shutdowns, and a bear stock market.
I can’t offer a heartwarming or
humorous (or eye-rolling) personal story. But I can offer this:
Following God, sacrificing, and
forgiving our fellow servants is easy when we feel secure in our
environment—good health, plenty of food and toilet paper, cash on hand or on
the debit or credit card.
Doing the same when people are
freaking out, justifiably or not, about the lack of material goods, is a lot harder.
Forgiving them, and accepting a new normal, even if it’s temporary, without
museums, sports, concerts, and other get-togethers, is harder too.
And none of it matters a hill of
bills, really.
When we set up creature comforts as
false gods, it’s a challenge to sacrifice them. But maybe it’s a gift as well.
Sacrifice them unreservedly and with love. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll find
that more time to spend with our family or in prayer or on reading will be less
of a challenge and more of a comfort than we expected.
Action
Sacrifice unreservedly today.
Image by James Chan from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/love-died-cross-thorns-crown-699480/
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