B.C. Before Christ

My last post was 'bout being a bond servant to Christ.... OK I guess you could have figure that out by looking down the page. Anyway... I got to thinking about why we as Christians choose to serve God. The most common answer from my three year old friends would be heaven. If I asked a bunch of middle schoolers they might say, "Cause like Jesus died for our sins... and stuff." Okay maybe I don't give middle schoolers enough credit (or maybe to much). But What reason did the founders of our faith have for being bond servants? Abraham, Jacob, Daniel, David, Elijah. None of these guys could give the answer that Jesus died for their sins and stuff. God hadn't even come to earth as The Son yet. I don't remember Abraham sighting Heaven as a reason when he set his son on the alter. Or Daniel saying, "Oh well if the lions get me I'll just go to Heaven. Sure they believed in God's promise to mankind of a savior, but their reason for doing what God was was that God had said it. So surely there was something more to it. I can't help but think there had to be more to their faith then the promise of eternal life. I can't help but wonder at these men who were so sold out, yet Christ hadn't come. How many times have we pointed to what Jesus did on the cross as a reason for our joy and hope? What Christ did on the cross was beautiful, and the ultimate expression of love. But if that's as deep as our faith goes... If that's the basis for our faith then the men and women of the old testament have us beaten and we truly deserve pity. God's love doesn't begin and end at the cross. The new testament isn't the only part of the Bible that's a love letter. I think God is far bigger and grander then we give him credit for. So what would it be like to be sold out for God instead of the cross?