1 Kings 8:5 There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats and cattle that no one could keep count!
This is the type of sacrificial giving that is missing from your hearts. This is what I would want to see. Sacrificing so many animals that no one could keep count means nothing to you today in your modern, convenient lives. But these animals were their livelihood. They were their means of sustenance. They were the food for their tables, for the nourishment of their families, their communities. Many were beloved animals that they raised from birth, nourished, cared for. They gave not just willingly, but out of the abundance of love and gratitude they felt in their hearts toward me. This was true sacrifice. Not just dollar bills and checks and other lifeless symbols of wealth. They sacrificed life blood -the life blood of their stock and the life blood of their businesses, that of their families’ food supplies. They felt this sacrifice in ways you never do. Dig deep, my children. What is a fitting sacrifice? A few dollars? A lot of money? Or, perhaps, the sacrifice of your selfishness, your will on the altar of obedience? The sacrifice of your time for Kingdom pursuits? The sacrifice of your comfort for the comfort of one who is suffering? What is on the altar of your heart? Is it me? Dig deep. These are weightier questions than you wish to admit. And how you answer these questions and, more importantly, adjust your behavior – how you answer these questions and adjust your lives will in great part determine what direction your Nation – your world – will take in the dark days to come.
Amanuensis 