day no. 15,355: pollute, distribute, substitute, salute

“'Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.' The altar means fire — burning and purification and insulation for one purpose only, the destruction of every affinity that God has not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God. You do not destroy it, God does; you bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar; and see that you do not give way to self-pity when the fire begins." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

God has given us the command to bind our sacrifices to His altar. We do not make an end of the thing, He does. It is our duty to bring it, to keep nothing back and to take it where He has commanded it.

If we bring something else, we pollute the altar.
If we bring only part of what was asked, we distribute the altar.
If we bring all of the right thing to the wrong place, we substitute the altar.
But if we bring all of the thing required to the place required, we salute the altar.

And once you've bound it to the altar, do not begin to feel sorry for what will happen to it. Do not let self-pity form your thoughts about God's fire. If you empathize with that which God has commanded you to be brought for destruction, you declare God unfair while justifying the object of His wrath. This is why we must bind our sacrifices with cords. There is too much temptation to help break our sacrifices out of prison once the fire begins to fall. Our sympathies are often with our loss instead of God's grace. We empathize with the loss we are suffering instead of the gain God is purifying for us.