The Ultimate Sacrifice

Day 20

³³ At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). ³⁵ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. ³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. ³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” - Mark 15:33-39

S - is there a sin to confess?
P - is there a promise to claim?
A - is there an attitude to change?
C - is there a command to obey?
E - is there an example to follow?
P - is there a prayer to pray?
E - is there an error to avoid?
T - is there a truth to believe?
S - is there something to praise God for?

S - when it comes to the death of Jesus and the crucifixion, all our sins are to be confessed to God. He promises us that if we confess our sins, God is just and will forgive us (1 John 1:9). Our sins were placed on Christ as he became the ultimate and perfect sacrifice for us. 

P - N/A

A - We must learn to have an attitude of humility and thanksgiving for what Christ has done. We often forget to be thankful for what we've been given and have been blessed with, and the crucifixion is the best reminder that someone died for you and me out of pure love.

C - N/A

E - The example in this case is sacrifice. Christ laid down his life for us, and we should follow and be willing to lay our lives down for Him and for others as well. Sacrifice is the ultimate expression of love, just as it says in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

P - Pray with thanksgiving, pray for forgiveness from the Father. Repent from our worldly selfish ways to honor God with everything we do. Thank the Lord for the cross, the death, and the resurrection.

E - N/A

T - The truth is simple, that God sent Christ to die for you, me and all of mankind, so we could have that relationship with the Lord and be given an eternal hope for life after death (John 3:16). 

S - Praise God for Jesus, for his love and mercy to sent Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins. 

The more and more I come back to the cross and realize God's love for us through Christ's death the more I realize how loving God is, how undeserving I am of this perfect gift. It's almost difficult to understand why anyone would choose to do that for me. But it happened, and he did die on the cross for you, me and all of mankind, so let us be thankful and grateful, accepting the gift, humbling ourselves before the throne of God. By accepting this gift, and believing this truth, we are saved, and given eternal hope and life. 

My Prayer: God, thank you for being so good. We deserve nothing but hell, death, and eternal punishment, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). We've fallen away from your righteousness, but you saved us and we are redeemed through the cross and through your son Jesus Christ. We can only praise your wondrous name. Thank you Lord. Amen.