The ultimate test of a man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard .
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you think about life’s great achievements—graduation, marriage, career—each comes with an equally enormous amount of sacrifice. Even the most successful people we can think of, such as athletes or celebrities, must put in long hours and give up the luxury of living a normal life to get where they are.
The following letter was found in a baking powder can wired to the handle of an old pump that offered the only hope of drinking water on a very long and seldom-used trail across the Amargosa Desert:
“This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But the washer dries out and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up. There’s enough water in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. Pour about one fourth and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy. You’ll get water. The well has never run dry. Have faith. When you get watered up, fill the bottle and put it back like you found it for the next feller.” – Desert Pete
“P.S. Don’t go drinking up the water first. Prime the pump with it and you’ll get all you can hold.”
Any traveller who found this had a choice to make: to trust the note, poured the water to prime the pump and have all the water he needed OR drink it. If he opted for the first option and it didn't work he would still be thirsty and he might die. If he chooses to drink the water in the bottle and get his thirst quenched immediately, he still might die from thirst later. Either choices will come at a cost and it’s certainly not easy trusting someone you have not seen or met. But in many ways, that is how our relationship with God looks like especially when He makes demands of us.
Sometimes we treat God like Desert Pete and prefer to have the gratification of keeping what we currently possess rather than sacrificing it for a future benefit that we do not yet see. There are people who have corrupted themselves simply because they didn’t have the will power to make certain sacrifices. In trying to keep their present possessions while pursuing a future gain, they have lost both. Many have learnt the hard way that it takes certain trade-offs to keep one’s peace of mind and sanity. Sacrifice is a powerful mystery that almost all religions uphold and even nature has so much to teach us about the power of sacrifice in every kingdom.
Recently I read a BBC story about the Orca by Victoria Gill, captioned, that illustrate the power of sacrifice for generational continuity. Orcas are a special breed of hunting sea creatures. She writes, ''rearing a son significantly reduced a female killer whale's chance of reproducing in the future. The energy they need to feed sons appears to compromise their health, leaving them less able to reproduce and raise other young. "Mothers sacrifice their own food and their own energy," said Prof Darren Croft from the University of Exeter. Orcas remain closely bonded to their families throughout their lives. But while young female offspring become independent in adulthood, males depend on their mothers - even demanding a share of the food that their matriarchs catch".
Even in the animal world, it takes a generational mindset and a willingness to sacrifice to secure posterity. As Prof. Croft’s statement reveals: "If a mother can get their son to become that big male in the population, then he's the one that will sire [much of the next generation]." Everything significant we do in this life will require sacrifice. It may be sacrificing gratification today for a better future. It maybe trading off something so that the next generation can have a better and a meaningful life. Parents often make several sacrifices so their children can have better education. The pioneers of nations often shed blood and tears to secure peaceful territories for the descendants. However, as time elapses, future generations forget the cost at which the benefits they met were obtained and therefore forget to appreciate and steward them properly.
Kris Vallotton writes, "the challenge with John Adams’s vision of each generation building on the next generation’s accomplishments is that those who make up the current generation often forget the sacrifice it took to give them such an amazing inheritance. They tend not to value it because they did not work for it, and consequently, they don’t do what is necessary to sustain it. In fact, they often don’t know what to do to sustain the culture they inherited, because they were not there when it was built. An attitude of thanksgiving is the only effective inoculation against entitlement and pride. Yet thanksgiving must be inspired in its recipients proactively by remembering and recounting the perseverance and sacrifice of others.
The moment we lose sight of the historic exploits of our forefathers and foremothers, we begin to digress into the cesspool of “privileged thinking,” and inheritance becomes entitlement. Instant Gratification Generation One of the worst side effects of entitlement is the instant gratification culture it inspires—the sense that we should get what we want when we want it, regardless of our circumstances. This instant gratification mentality is expressed in hundreds of ways in our society. Credit cards and thirty-year mortgages are just a couple of ways that this attitude finds expression.
The occultic world thrives on the power of sacrifice and African movies portray that a lot. Those who rise to high levels in cults often make huge sacrifices that cost them dearly. If even the kingdom of darkness understands sacrifice then how much more we those in the kingdom of light. Those who understand the power of sacrifice have broken many years of generational curses, turned negative situations around, released generational blessings over nations, stopped generational family patterns through sacrifice. This is a secret weapon of the children of God. If we want to shift generations, we have to learn the power of sacrifice. Certain situations in our lives will only answer to a sacrifice.
In 2 Samuel 21, the nation of Israel experienced severe famine for 3 years, and not even King David could intervene. It turned out that some slaves, former outsiders, who were depleting the remaining food and water resources with them during this period were the cause of their predicament. The Gibeonites had been spared by Joshua after they made a pact with them without first asking the Lord. They were free people but they gave themselves gladly to the service of Israel. And Saul, instead of upholding this oath, attempted to wipe them out. The repercussion came on subsequent generations after Saul had died.
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.
2 Samuel 21:1:1-2, NKJV
Why didn’t God just reveal the cause to David? Why didn’t the prophets discern and avert this? When they inquired of the Lord, they were told that Saul's children had to die to atone for the injustice before the heavens would pour rains. Are there things your family must do in this season to open the heavens of rain? Is there a sacrifice that God is demanding of you? In the era of grace it is so easy to lose sight of the relevance of sacrifice. But our salvation came at a cost, and we often have to make sacrifices to enter and remain in God’s kingdom. Paul had to give up a lot to uphold his faith in Christ and his ministry (see Philippians 3). You probably have had to say and must say no to certain things because of Christ. There’s no progress in the Kingdom of God without sacrifice.
What is the greatest thing that God has ever asked of you? Your money, job, child, career? The context varies, but truth is what we may call a sacrifice may not necessarily be a sacrifice for another person. For instance, if you have 10 cars and God requests one, you may not feel much loss -after all, you have 9 more. But if God requires all 10 cars, then the cost of this tradeoff will be significant because of your attachment to them. What God requires may be animate or inanimate but often it would be something you have a deep affection for or emotional attachments to.
The worth of a sacrifice is not in its numerical value but the depth of our attachment to it. God will not necessarily ask you to part ways with what you don’t love because He knows you can easily release it. That is why sacrifices are a dangerous weapon against the enemy and why they invoke blessings. Sometimes, God just requires some sacrifices to break our affection for things that can have power or control over us and usurp His place in our hearts. In church circles today, many equate or reduce sacrifice to giving of money to a man of God or a church. But that is very far from truth. Sacrifice transcends money and it also goes beyond just giving to a man of God. The first thing that God requires from any of us is our lives – offering it as a living sacrifice. As I narrated in a previous bulletin, no amount of money can substitute God’s requirement if it’s for a non-monetary requirement. So, it’s important we understand this vital truth.
It is so easy to claim the blessings in verses 2 and 3 without understanding the context of this promise. But it started with a huge demand on a man that had no track record or Bible to read of a voice of God. When Abraham moved from his father’s house to a country he didn’t know, it meant parting with his family, friends, loved ones and inheritance. But today we qualify to claim this generational blessing which came on the ticket of Abraham’s sacrifice. As Galatians 3:29 AMP says; "and if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise".
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called [by God], obeyed by going to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.
Only a God who gives Himself, His only begotten son, for the penalty of sin can make such demands of His followers. Beloved, we will not be exempted from this foundational Kingdom principle. To shift the generations ahead for God’s best, we must learn and embrace the power of sacrifice. God will require some of us to bless someone, sacrifice something dear to you, something that He sees is becoming an idol in our lives. If you want to experience more of God, you’ll have to lay it on the altar.
When the Hebrew boys took a stand for God and refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, they took a big risk putting their lives on the line. There was no surety that a spectacular deliverance from the furnace will happen because they added ‘even if he doesn't save us’. But this is the mark of a sacrifice: being willing to step out in faith in response to God not knowing what will happen. I’ve recounted how I struggled to print my first book only to be asked by God to give the copies out for free at the launch. There was no guarantee that someone will donate 1000 USD just to say thank you for obeying God. He made a demand of what I thought was going to raise me some money and I felt the cost. But that is sacrifice. So, we understand why the rich younger ruler who came to Jesus walked away.
Jesus said promised that the ruler would have treasure in heaven if he made that sacrifice. Ultimately Jesus wanted to see where his heart really was. As James H. Cagle said, ‘the heart is where a man’s treasure is because it is with the heart that he thinks about his treasure, thinks about how to protect it, plans on how to build it, and thinks about how he will spend and invest it or use it. He is fixated on his wealth and spends his days thinking about how he can protect, build, and spend his money.’ So in Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (NKJV). The very instant the ruler walked away, Jesus knew where his heart really was.
Throughout the Bible, we see a pattern of sacrifices releasing God’s people into lasting blessings and legacy. The woman who broke her jar of alabaster oil, her precious life savings, is remembered across generations because she gave it up for the Lord. Are you ready to make sacrifices for the future generations? What trade-off will you make to save your marriage, children, vision, mandate or legacy?
A story is told of TL Osborn needing to be in Lagos to catch their connecting flight. There were many people in the fully-booked plane that day, both believers and unbelievers alike. It took one man and his assistant’s sacrifice of their seats for these Gospel ministers to make their appointment. First, they were losing their ticket. Secondly whatever business transaction they were embarking on had to wait till the following day. That sacrifice led Papa Idahosa to declare, "The world will get up for you". The passengers who were mostly Christian responded, "Amen". He continued, "My God will bless you! God will take you and your business beyond Africa and bless you beyond measure". It’s claimed that Aliko Dangote was the person in question and if that’s true, the rest of his life is history.
This 40-day fast and prayer journey has been a sacrifice for many who embarked on it amidst work and daily activities. Maybe you joined this fast and prayers blindly but you have sacrificed food and time for this. You have read materials that you probably wouldn’t. I pray and declare that may generations of your family not forget your name for the sacrifice you have made on their behalf in this season. Beyond the fast, as you follow God’s specific leadings to you on sacrifice, may you and your family experience uncommon breakthroughs and establish legacies for generations to come.