I'm Thankful for Jesus' Sacrifice

Each day until Thanksgiving, Everyday Truth is looking at a different reason to be thankful in a family devotional. Use these devotionals with your kids to help keep your family focused on giving thanks. If you missed the introductory post, check it out here for directions on creating a "Thanksgiving wall." When you're done with the devotional head on over to the Everyday Truth Facebook page and join in the discussion of why we're thankful for Jesus' sacrifice.

I bet you've heard the verse John 3:16 before. You might even be able to say it without looking at the Bible. It says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Sound familiar?

God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to earth so He could be a sacrifice so we could have eternal life with God. Do you know what a sacrifice is? It's giving up something you want for someone else. Any time you let your sister have the bigger piece of cake, that's a sacrifice. If you do what a friend wants to do instead of what you want to do, that's a sacrifice.

Jesus' sacrifice was bigger than giving up a piece of cake or letting someone else choose the game. Jesus sacrificed His life. He died so we could be closer to God. You see, our sins -- the stuff we do that goes against what God says like lying or being mean to someone -- keep us from being able to be close to God. God is perfect, and He can't be close to sin. Our sin separates us from Him.

In the Old Testament, every time one of the Israelites sinned, they had to offer a sacrifice to God in the form of an animal or some other type of food, like grain. When Jesus came and died on the cross, his sacrifice was for all of us and all of our sins. We no longer have to offer God a sacrifice of an animal to get rid of our sins. Jesus' sacrifice took care of that. When God looks at us now, He sees us as if we're perfect because he sees Jesus' sacrifice. All we have to do is tell God we're sorry and ask Him to help us not to do it again.

Jesus made the biggest sacrifice anyone could make. He gave up His life for someone else -- you and me. Thank God today forloving you enough to send Jesus to be a sacrifice. Write on your Thanksgiving wall that you're thankful the Jesus came to be a sacrifice for you.