Ultra-Christianity: Part 11 – Sacrifice

Running with endurance takes great sacrifice. It is difficult to calculate the sacrifice needed to prepare properly for an Ultra-marathon. Even though I have trained for and ran many races in the past, including marathons, training for and running a 50-mile Ultra-marathon is a whole different story.  I knew that it would take a great deal more sacrifice to accomplish it.  I would need to make some hard decisions and sacrifice time, energy, comfort, convenience, personal and family activities, and much more.  I also knew that it would not only be a sacrifice for me, but also a sacrifice for my family.  There will be times when I would need to stick to my training schedule which might be in the way with family plans, particularly during the scheduled Saturday long runs. I tried not to impact my family too much with the training; however, there were many times where it was unavoidable.As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I would not have even begun the training process if I did not gain the support of my wife and family.  After they got over the crazy idea of a 50-mile race, they were very supportive of the entire process.  When thinking about the sacrifice for this race, I was reminded of the sacrifices needed to be a Christ-follower.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” – Romans 12:1

Running with endurance takes great sacrifice. It is difficult to calculate the sacrifice needed to prepare properly for an Ultra-marathon. Even though I have trained for and ran many races in the past, including marathons, training for and running a 50-mile Ultra-marathon is a whole different story.  I knew that it would take a great deal more sacrifice to accomplish it.  I would need to make some hard decisions and sacrifice time, energy, comfort, convenience, personal and family activities, and much more.  I also knew that it would not only be a sacrifice for me, but also a sacrifice for my family.  There will be times when I would need to stick to my training schedule which might be in the way with family plans, particularly during the scheduled Saturday long runs. I tried not to impact my family too much with the training; however, there were many times where it was unavoidable.As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I would not have even begun the training process if I did not gain the support of my wife and family.  After they got over the crazy idea of a 50-mile race, they were very supportive of the entire process.  When thinking about the sacrifice for this race, I was reminded of the sacrifices needed to be a Christ-follower.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” – Romans 12:1

When following Christ, similar sacrifices need to be made as in training, for example:

	Running	Christ-follower
Time	To train	Serving others; studying the Word; spending time with God; praying; etc
Energy	Physical effort	Serving others; studying the Word; spending time with God; praying; etc
Comfort	Enduring discomfort, injuries, etc.	Sometimes not comfortable evangelizing; speaking to others in Love, etc.
Convenience	Not always convenient to train, etc.	Usually not convenient to server others, share the Gospel, etc.
Personal activities	Need to train in place of other activities you may want to do.	May need to give up some personal activities to serve others, study the Word, etc

There are many examples of those who have followed Christ and have sacrificed their time, energy, and even lives. 

One such person is Hudson Taylor.  Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China. From an early age, he had a desire to spread the Gospel in China. He made numerous personal sacrifices, endured many hardships in his service as a missionary, but it is clear his sacrifices greatly impacted God’s eternal kingdom.  The historian Ruth Tucker wrote of him the following:

“No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematized plan of evangelizing a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor.”

Also there was David Livingston who wrote: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice, which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice, which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”

And then there are those who are probably only know to a few people, but still are seen by God.  Like a woman who devotes her life to the raising of Godly children, who gives up a career to “train up her children in the way they should go” – Prov. 22:6.  A woman who “diligently” teaches her children the commands and principles of God, who trusts God in His promises, who sacrifices herself for the right reasons (Prov 31).  (My wife is such a woman.) She truly has an eternal perspective as described in Psalm 90:12:

“So teach us to number our days, that we my gain a heart of wisdom.”

Her selfless, endless sacrifice is only truly known by a few, and maybe even only by one (e.g. I observe it daily), but that is okay with her because she knows the eternal rewards her life produces.

It is important to note that sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice is not really what God desires of our lives.  I believe He desires us to have a humble heart, willing to fully serve Him with our lives. Willing to relinquish our will to do His will.  That may be the biggest sacrifice we need to face.

“The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit – O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.” – Psalm 51:17

What I have observed in looking at those who serve the Lord with all of their hearts, mind, and soul, is that they do not even consider it a sacrifice.  The outside world looks at their life as a sacrifice, that they gave up so much of what we consider valuable, but they all echo a similar statement as David Livingston: “I never made a sacrifice”.  This type of perspective is found throughout in the Scriptures.

“With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you! I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good!” – Psa 54:6

 “If indeed "we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."  – Romans 8:17

"It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him" – 2 Timothy 2:11,12

Sacrifice is indeed required and expected when following Jesus Christ and making Him the highest priority in your life and shows our love towards Him.  However, what some consider a sacrifice, the true Christ follower does not considers it a sacrifice at all, but rather a privilege.

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”  – C.T.Studd

 

Questions on Sacrifice: 

1)    What does sacrifice mean to you?

2)    What other essentials may a runner need to give up for training?

3)    How does the Christian walk compare to those essentials?

4)    What have you sacrificed for the Lord?

5)    What are you willing to sacrifice for the Lord?

6)    List those who you observed as sacrificing their lives for God.

7)    Is sacrificing your will for God’s will worth it?  Explain.