A LIVING SACRIFICE

     In my last article, "Did Mary Know," the question was asked, "Do we know?" Oh dear Lord, that is a tough question. For only after we age in wisdom and grace, can we look back on all the events of our lives and the lives of now grown children. We see the effects of our choices/mistakes and see how the sins of their parents are being passed down unto them and their children. We see the sadness and suffering that came into their lives and now the grandchildren's lives.
    In God's love and mercy, He allowed me to start on a desert journey, taking me out of the distractions of the world---just so I could see the depth of my unresolved guilt buried deep within.  Regrets can cut deeply into our soul and we subconsiously build walls around pain we do not want to see or feel.

    God, also in His mercy allowed me to see what it means to be a "living sacrifice" for the sake of others that come into my life. This revelation led me to deeply realize what a "Living Sacrifice" Jesus was for us.   Jesus did not just come into this world to die for us, but to experience what it means to be a human. He willing left a "perfect" Kingdom ---of no pain or sorrow, no fears of tomorrow---a Paradise, a Heaven complete and without any darkness. He willing said "Yes" to the Father, just as Mary said "Yes" to the Father. He came into this world and lived here among humans and allowed the 'mental scouraging to begin' long before the physical one began. He died to Self, the day He came into this world---a tiny baby. A baby that would know hunger, discomfort, cold and being jostled from one home to another and be touched also by the human emotions of His parents as they raised and cared for Him in this world. As He grew, He also would expereince the good and the bad human behavior of all He would encounter.

    Yes, all of Jesus' life was a Living Sacrifice for us. It had to be, to truly be the Way, the Truth and the Light that comes into our World--if we let Him in. Caution, to say "Yes," means that we too will become a living sacrifice, and will experience many trials, pain, sorrow, struggle, conflict, guilt, anger, hate---well all the side effects of the sins of our ancestors passed down unto us. The sin of Adam--DISOBEDIENCE--has indeed been passed down.
    How to come down off our cross that we ourselves and they hung us on?   To live a Ressurected Life?    Well that will be the subject for the next article.