Obedience Requires Faith And Sacrifice

“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.” (Ps 4:5 AV)

The relationship between sacrifice of righteousness and trust is something not usually thought of.  First, why is sacrifice and doing right necessarily tied together?  We know that doing right might require a sacrifice.  Such as tithing for the LORD's work.  This definitely requires a sacrifice.  Or serving the LORD may require time or resources.  Why would righteousness be considered a sacrifice?  Where does trust come in?  Why do we need to trust that obedience would be the result?  Again, the above examples make sense.  But is it true for all choices of obedience?  Do we need to sacrifice and do we need to trust no matter the requirement of righteousness?  There is a cost we pay, but there is also a cost that might be exacted by those whom our obedience affects.  There is trust that our obedience has a purpose and blessings associated with it.  Especially considering the cost that is paid to do the right thing.  May I propose the reason we struggle with righteousness is we fail to sacrifice or we do not trust; or both.

I remember a distinct incident that is precious to me between me and my father.  He was a school teacher.  This meant he had summers off.  He filled his summer with temporary jobs.  One of those jobs was as the camp ranger for a boy scout camp.  This was the same camp in which I and most of my older brothers also worked.  The first year I worked as the camp clerk.  I sat in the camp office every day, answered the phones, delivered mail, and did an assortment of other duties.  In the second year, I ran the trading post.  The trading post was a scout-themed small little store.  It was that first year that my father also worked at the camp.  It was customary for the staff to take Saturday afternoon and evening as a time of revelry.  The campers had left by noon on Saturday and that left about twenty-four hours until the next group arrived.  Into the little town of Geneva, our staff descended.  As one of the younger staff members working at the camp, I desired to fit in.  But I knew as they went into town, some of what they would be doing I would be a bit uncomfortable with.  I remember my father asking me if I was going into town with all the other guys.  His question was very simple.   He did not offer concern or another option.  In his voice was the concern and another option, but he never said it.  It was at that moment I realized I had two choices. I could chase after approval I may never get by doing things that I probably shouldn’t have, or I could please my father by saying I’d rather stay back.  I made the latter choice.  It was then, and only then, that he offered to spend the evening with me.  Just he and I alone.  We went out to eat, went to a drive-in, and then had ice cream on the shores of Lake Geneva.  This choice cost me something.  It cost me potential friendships.  There was faith involved.  I had to believe the right choice would come with rewards that I, at the time knew nothing of.

The same is true of righteousness towards the LORD.  There must be a sacrifice.  A sacrifice of our own fleshly desires, ambitions, ideas, comfort, resources, etc.  Then we must trust the LORD that this path of righteousness will be blessed and that God has a purpose for it all.  Sacrifice and faith go hand in hand with righteousness.  There is a part of us that needs to die.  There is another part of us that needs to surrender to faith.  Righteousness is contrary to our nature.  It is contrary to the world’s way of thinking and the values it holds dear.  Adam and Eve surrendered righteousness in the garden because they were unwilling to sacrifice their desires and failed to trust the LORD when He warned of death as a consequence.  If we are disobedient, there is something we do not want to give up.  If we live in disobedience, there is something about God or His law we do not trust.  Both have to be present for righteousness to be our pattern of life.