In Psalms 4:5 we are told to offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put our trust in the Lord. Offering a sacrifice probably has some of you thinking about the old time ways of sacrificing like offering that of animals. Seeing as how Christ became the final sacrifice for us, however, we no longer have to sacrifice innocent animals – thank goodness. So are we still expected to offer the sacrifices of righteousness today? Sure we are. The best example is this one:

You're driving down the road when suddenly some egghead pulls right out in front of you so that you have to slam on your breaks to avoid hitting them. The thing that really gets you is that there are no cars behind you for miles on end. Heaven forbid the driver actually pause two seconds to look behind you when he's got a chance to jump out right in front of you. If you have ever done this to someone – you're an idiot and you should not be driving at all. Thank you.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about your actual responses to this situation. Your first response (aside from thinking the driver an idiot) is probably to sit on your horn and shout out to the driver that he's an idiot. And if you're really into road rage you may even drum up a few nasty finger gestures as you pass the driver by – or worse. Obviously the driver is in the wrong for being so careless and self-centered and even though you may feel fully justified in retaliating, here is where God insists on your sacrifice of righteousness.

Righteousness means a right way of being or doing – or better still – a right way of behaving. It is not always easy to behave the right way and often times we have to sacrifice our temper or our anger in order to do so. It doesn't matter what someone else does or doesn't do – like practically break your neck as well as their own to be the first one to a red light only to not pay attention to it so that they sit like a bump on a log after it turns green. It is not about other people, it's about us. We have a responsibility to behave a certain way regardless of the situation or circumstance. And that will call for a sacrifice from time to time.

What can make it more difficult is to think that if we don't hold our peace, then someone might get away with something they did and that wouldn't be right either. But the truth is, they won't get away with what they did. God sees all and He is the one in charge. Don't make him have to correct you for your behavior along with the person who did you wrong to begin with. That's no fun. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. So remember, no matter what is going on around you, you have a responsibility to behave accordingly no matter how your flesh insists on retaliating. This will not only keep you safe and out of trouble on the one hand, it will also keep you in good standing with God on the other.

Katheryn Davies
April, 2007