Image by Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz,
Psalm 50
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
Hebrews 13:15 Through him then let us continually
offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
I have often wondered at the phrase “sacrifice of praise.” I mean, what does it cost to praise the Lord and give Him thanks? But I have come to see that this is an amazing call to the hearts of believers. Think of sacrifice as an offering, placed on the altar before God. God commanded the Israelites to offer sacrifices of the best and first of their flocks. God commands us to offer the best and first of our very lives. Thus, at this time of thanksgiving, which is a distinctly Christian theme and observance, we are called to offer a “sacrifice of praise,” which I think is parallel to a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” from Psalm 50.
What is a sacrifice of praise. It is to acknowledge God as the source of life and all that He graciously brings into our lives. We acknowledge that God is good and all that He does is good, even when, from our human perspective, we may not see the good. But everything is from the Lord and so we must go beyond acknowledgment, to joyful thanksgiving and praise for all that He is and does.
In this way we humble ourselves before the Lord, acknowledging His provision.
When we offer up our thanksgivings and praise to God we are really offering our very lives on the altar before God.
The Bible study makes clear that salvation is a free gift from God that demands of us everything. We were bought with the precious blood of the Lamb of God. We are His. We are not our own. We cannot glory in ourselves, but our lives are devoted to the glory of God.
God's Abundant Grace to you all,
Bryan
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