Sacrifice~

     Something to consider~ 
     I hear prayers telling Jesus "Thank You for dying on the cross", we know He did a great deal when He allowed Himself to be crucified. He paid for our sins through the sacrifice of His blood, He washed us clean of our sins (when we trust and believe in His Crucifixion), through His blood He provided for us all that we needed, through His wounds and beatings (stripes) He provided our healing....and we know that Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, right?
     Have you considered that before He even allowed Himself to be accused by the Pharisees and questioned by Pontius Pilate that His whole life was a sacrifice? 
     Jesus lived in Heaven! He was with God and He was God! He walked streets of gold where there is no suffering, no tears, no illness, no death, no hate, no envy, no rebellion, no strife, no decay....He left that for us! Wasn't that an amazingly large sacrifice? How many of us are willing to step away from our comfortable homes and walk the worst Third World countries among disease, death and decay to try to reach out to those who live there? I can't even imagine the stench that the World must have carried with it when Jesus had to breath in the air of our lives.
     The sacrifice started way before the cross! As soon as He was conceived in Mary's womb the sacrifice had started. He was carried in the womb of one of His creations, as a baby He had to cry to be fed! He was dependent for His safety and life on those who had been created in His image! He spent time with other children and you know children are not always kind to each other, there were probably bullies in Jesus' days too. And the growing pains of a teenager? Growing into manhood and never quite fitting in with His friends or brothers. Why were none of His disciples friends from the old days? (Yes, I'm sure angels were always about, but I don't believe that He relied on them for protection or provision, even when He faced the enemy in the desert He did not call on them to step in. It was only after the time of testing was over that the angels ministered to Him!)
     You hear stories of people who have died and then come back to life, they say that it is so beautiful that they don't want to come back but they are sent back because it's not yet time for them to pass on, yet Jesus made the choice to come when it was not required of Him! When you take time to consider and be thankful to Jesus for His sacrifice, consider what He set aside to live on Earth, please take time to recognize that all that He did on Earth was a sacrifice!