23 years ago I was in the Philippines for the first time on "Good Friday." I was on a church visit to Naga City in southern Luzon.

Around noon time I was surprised to see several young men walking down the street as part of a "Good Friday" procession. Their backs were bare, and they were beating themselves with small whips. Their backs were bloody.

As I learned later, this happens every Easter season in the Philippines. In the province of Pampanga north of Manila, each year there are men who even have themselves nailed to a cross for a short time.

It is their way of sacrificing and following in Christ’s footsteps.

Is that the kind of sacrifice God expects from us? No, He doesn’t. God does not require penance from us. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for our sins is sufficient: "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:12-14).

How do we honor the sacrifice of Christ? Not by beating our backs bloody with whips, but by how we live! We honor His sacrifice with the right sacrifice: by offering ourselves – our lives – as a living sacrifice to Him and His way of life: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1; emphasis added).

We do that by seeking daily to conform to the will of God: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (verse 2).

Jesus’ whole life was a living sacrifice to do the will of God. Let’s follow in His footsteps by doing the same.

With these thoughts I wish us all a rewarding Sabbath!