JULY 9, 2026

   “I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.” 

― Abraham Lincoln

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” 
― Martin Luther King Jr.

JOB 40-42

7“Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

8“Would you discredit my justice?

Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9Do you have an arm like God’s,

and can your voice thunder like his?

10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,

and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11Unleash the fury of your wrath,

look at all who are proud and bring them low,

12look at all who are proud and humble them,

crush the wicked where they stand.

13Bury them all in the dust together;

shroud their faces in the grave.

14Then I myself will admit to you

that your own right hand can save you. (40:7-14)

ACTS 15:22-41

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

JOURNAL 

The thread that keeps emerging throughout Scripture is sacrifice. From the first sacrifices in the Old Testament to the cross of Christ, the pattern is the same. Something must be surrendered to make room for something greater. Sacrifice is not God taking from us for the sake of loss. It is God inviting us to let go of what keeps us from fully receiving Him.

Job sacrificed something few of us would ever choose. He lost his possessions, his health, his reputation, and those he loved. Yet in the end, the greatest sacrifice was not any of those things. It was his need to understand. Standing before the greatness of God, Job surrendered his demand for an explanation. He accepted that God is God and that His wisdom stretches far beyond anything a human mind can comprehend. In that surrender, he found peace.

Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for sin, removing forever the need to earn God's forgiveness. But that does not mean sacrifice disappeared from the life of a believer. It simply changed. My sacrifice is no longer an animal on an altar. It is my pride, my fear, my control, my desire to justify myself, my obsession with outcomes, and everything that keeps me from living fully in God's Spirit. Every day I choose to surrender those things, I make room for His power, His love, and His discipline to shape my life.

Even Paul and Barnabas demonstrate this reality. Their disagreement was painful, but each willingly sacrificed personal preference for the sake of continuing the mission. God used what appeared to be a setback to expand His kingdom even further. God continually brings life out of surrendered lives.

The call for me is simple. Stop trying to hold on to everything. Sacrifice whatever keeps me from becoming the man God created me to be. Lay down my need for certainty. Lay down my need for recognition. Lay down my fear of failure. Then take whatever opportunities God places before me and pour myself completely into them. Whether I am teaching, coaching, leading my family, or simply mowing the yard...let each task become an offering of gratitude.

That is what it means to fix my eyes on Jesus. He sacrificed everything to make room for life. I honor that sacrifice by surrendering myself each day, trusting that whatever I place in God's hands will always be exchanged for something far greater than I could ever hold onto myself.

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

HEBREWS 12:1-3