A SACRIFICE OF TIME

Dear children, let's not merely say
that we love each other; let us show
the truth by our actions.
(1 John 3:18 NLT)

During prayer group this morning, our leader uttered a word she thought might be a message for one of us--sacrifice. No one responded. It definitely didn't feel as though it applied to me. Much later, though, while sitting in my car waiting for the light to change, a memory surfaced from long ago.

I was a camp counselor, and had befriended a special needs girl who worked in the kitchen. One evening she asked me if I would go fishing with her, and I used curfew as an excuse because I didn't want to go. Her response haunts me more today than it did back then. "Everybody is very nice," she said, "but when you need someone to do something with, there's nobody there."

I've always been selfish with my time, and have many regrets about how much of it has been squandered on things that have no lasting value. Sadly, I cannot undo the past, but I can change my priorities going forward. That word, sacrifice, may well have been a message for me after all.