It’s Sunday night! Time to gear up for a new week. As always, the best way to do that is to PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD (Ephesians 6:10-18) but we also will focus on ONE area to strengthen our walk with the Lord. Just one focus to help us grow a faith that cannot fade with the demands of life and the pressures of this world. This week we will focus on SACRIFICE!

Sacrifice is a hard thing. We grow accustomed to our “things”- our phones, our tablets, our midday snack, our morning coffee. We all have something we look forward to or even believe we can’t live without. These are the things we need to lay down the most because the only thing we should not be able to live without is Jesus.

Catholics do this act of sacrifice annually during Lent. They give up something that means a lot to them for the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, about six weeks. Even though I grew up in a Catholic school, I was raised Baptist, so I didn’t have to participate in Lent.

It’s too bad.

Because every now and then I have to lay something down temporarily because it has taken a place of importance in my life that hinders my relationship with God. It also helps me develop discipline, something that carries over into my spiritual and prayer life.

I’ve put down my Amazon Fire tablet, Coca-Cola, and television. (None permanently, just enough to see that I can live without it.)

This week pick ONE thing to sacrifice. A food, an activity, whatever…

When you find yourself struggling to stay away from that item, read your Bible or pray instead. That small victory you will find at the end of the week for having discipline and for having honored your commitment to God will be an immeasurable thrill that I guarantee will have better internal rewards than the item itself.