SACRIFICED
“There is not a single bird more persecuted than the dove; yet God has chosen her to be offered up on the altar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, and the goat by the tiger.’ God said: ‘Bring me a sacrifice, not from them that persecute, but from them that are persecuted.’” (Talmud)
Although the first weapons devised by man were designed for hand-to-hand combat, a person’s enemy is not always an arms-length away or even within sight. Soon the warrior and hunter felt the need for a weapon that could reach a target a great distance away, or which lies invisible and protected behind barriers of every sort. With a bow and arrow, the tension in an arched bough of wood is exploited to propel a missile for great distances and slash through barriers. The inventor of this device first had to grasp the paradox that the deadly arrow must be pulled back toward his own heart to strike the heart of the opponent, and that the more it is drawn toward oneself the more distant an adversary it can reach. This provides us with a spiritual principle against the fiercest manifestation of evil that demands a sacrifice many are called to but few are prepared to make.
The deeper we are rooted in His love, the greater is the distance of influence over territory lost through sin, the enemy of our souls, revealing the living sacrifice of the sacrificed and response of those who lay down their lives unconditionally and wholeheartedly for Him (Rom. 12:1-2) – a heart matter – a sweet-smelling offering pure and acceptable unto God!
Raphael ben Levi
