Genesis 15:9-11 (NIV) So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

After a while of traveling around the promised land, the Lord appeared to Abram in a vision to confirm the covenant that He had made with him. When God told him that He would be bless him, Abram respectfully pointed out that his servant would need to be his heir because he didn't have any children. The Lord then confirmed that many descendants would come from him through his own flesh and blood son that He would give him. He also told Abram that He was giving the land of Canaan to him. When Abram asked how he would know that he would indeed take possession of the land, the Lord instructed him to offer a sacrifice made up of a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. Abram hurried to get the sacrifice ready but as he did, birds of prey showed up to consume the sacrifice, but the verses above tell us that he drove them away. He then was able to offer the sacrifice, and the Lord blessed him there.

Note that God asked Abram to prepare a sacrifice for Him, but as soon as he cut the animals in half and laid them on the altar, the birds of prey showed up to devour them. This reminds us about our own sacrifices to God. Whenever we want to do something for God's glory and honor, it seems as though something or someone shows up to either try to interrupt us, or worse yet, to take the sacrifice for themselves. One example would be when the Lord has been blessing you and you feel in your heart that you want to join a ministry in the church. As soon as you go to make that happen, a job or a person of the opposite sex comes along to eat up the time that you would have given to the Lord. Or perhaps you had put some money aside to send to a missions program or to give to your local church as a thanksgiving offering for all that the Lord has done for you, and then someone offers you something that you've been wanting for a long time for a reduced price, which is just about how much money you had put aside. Whatever it may be that you get in your heart to offer to the Lord as your sacrifice of thanksgiving, you can be assured that "birds of prey" will come along to try to get to it before you can give it to God.

The birds of prey have a name: the world, the flesh and the devil. Each of those are sacrifice-consumers that will attempt to circumvent your sacrifice from being consummated to the Lord. They are on the lookout for anything that you want to offer to the Lord from your heart out of your love and devotion to Him to get to it before you can offer it. You need to do what Abram did and drive the birds of prey away so that you can bless the Lord with your sacrifice as was originally in your heart to do. Don't let anything get in the way of your relationship with Jesus and don't let anything or anyone discourage you from doing anything that the Lord puts in your heart to do to honor Him. As you complete your sacrifice, your heart will be glad and the Lord will bless your life.

Pastor Joey Vazquez