WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...give it up!

There are some things in my life that I would really like to give up, like eating. But giving it up totally would not be a good thing ... in order to survive, I need food! My problem isn't "eating", it's eating too much.

In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question, "Is there something you couldn't live without?" The top 3 answers were:

1. 80% voted and said that they could not live without God!

2. 60% said that they could not live without their family!
3. Another 60% voted and said prayer is what they could not live without!

After reading the results of this weeks poll, I have to say a loud AMEN to that! Those would probably be the 3 toughest things to try to live without. But yet many of us make choices each and every day that lead us away from these things. Many times God, prayer and family take a backseat to other things going on in our lives. We get so busy with our lives that sometimes we find ourselves at the end of the day without having spent any time with any of these things.

In order to make the important things "important", sometimes we have to give something up. That's what I love about going on a fast...it allows me time to just focus on God and rid myself of the unwanted and certainly, unneeded toxins that have crept inbetween me and my Father. There is just something so sacrificial about fasting, giving up things, things that I like, in order to get closer to Him.

I see fellow Christians doing this very thing. Giving up things in order to help others. Giving up their time to come and teach a class. Giving up money to invest in the children's ministry. Giving sacrificially to others, especially those in need. They give someone a ride to church. They visit the sick in the hospital. They bake a cake for a grieving family. They pray for a Missionary that they have never met.

John 15:12-13 - My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)

Giving of ones time and treasure can be a very sacrificial thing. When we give sacrifically to others, it can only bring us closer to God. And when we become closer to God, we will be driven to give sacrificially to others. Do you see how this works?

When I think about how Jesus gave His own life just for you and me, for our salvation, it makes giving of myself to others alittle bit easier. Really, when you think about it, there isn't anything besides God, prayer and family that I couldn't do without. How about you?