Sacrifice

Abraham is talking to God, and asking him what else he must do for God, considering all the sacrifices he had previously made. But God told him that he must make the ultimate sacrifice, and kill his son Isaac. Although extremely upset, Abraham obeys God, and takes his son to the top of a hill, and prepares him to be sacrificed. But just before Abraham is about to kill his son, God spares him, and accepts a goat as a sacrifice instead. All of this was a test of Abraham's loyalty to God, which would become incredibly important as Abraham began to become the father of generations and generations to come.

This story, to me, is less about sacrifice and more about obedience and dedication. Abraham loved God and was dedicated to his plan so much, that he was willing to kill his only son for the sake of his plan. Interestingly, this parallels with another father son relationship in the New Testament, Jesus and God in Heaven. But in that story, God does make the ultimate sacrifice, and gave his only son in order to save the rest of the human race from eternity in Hell. 

True sacrifice to me is giving up something, whether it be time or possessions, for the good of someone or something else. One example would be selling a car to pay for a mission trip or something like that. One thing that puzzles me is if you can sacrifice something for the sake of oneself. For example, I feel that I sacrifice a lot of time and effort for Ultimate, something that I am truly passionate about. But can I really call that a sacrifice, since playing Ultimate doesnt directly benefit anyone but myself? Am I selfish? Am I crazy? Probably, but maybe not.

Here is a link to a song about sacrifice and the explanation of its meaning by the artist, its kind of loud, so brace yourself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMXV24dvhIg&list=PLsa_p3_Z7E77qqtc-qnFppFbSegQ-1eGp