Lord, I am willing to receive what You give

To lack what You withhold, to relinquish what You take

To suffer what You inflict, to be what You require.

And, Lord, if others are to be Your messengers to me,

I am willing to hear and heed, what they have to say. Amen.  —Nelson Mink

 Palm Sunday and Holy Week can be depressing: There is a message has been sent to you. You eagerly wait for it but it never comes. Jesus had a terrific message up to this point, but that message was about to disappear along with the messenger.

 …but there is more to the story.

 This message is about sacrifice and the importance sacrifice plays in becoming more like Christ. But why should we sacrifice? Why not, every person for themselves. Get what you can, while you can and the heck with everyone else? Why sacrifice when we’re all going to die anyway.

 That’s what the world wants you to believe but there is so much more. On Holy Week, they will kill Jesus but on the third day, he will rise again!

 Do you want to become like Christ? Then you need to understand the discipline of sacrifice. No other discipline is more closely associated with the character and the mission of Jesus Christ than sacrifice. Yes, He was intimate with God, lived simply, sought solitude, surrendered His will to God daily and lived a prayerful, humble life characterized by self-control. But it is sacrifice that distinguishes the Son of God from anyone else and identifies Him as Savior.

 Do you want to become like Christ? Become a person characterized by the discipline of sacrifice - the ultimate expression of Christ-likeness.

 "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."  -  Jim Elliot

 In the cross of Christ I glory, Towering o'er the wrecks of time;

All the lights of sacred story, Gathers around its head sublime.

 When the woes of life o'er take me, Hopes deceive and fears annoy,

Never shall the cross forsake me; Lo! it glows with peace and joy.