Better Than Sacrifice, Yielding Our Heart to God预览

Sacrifice of Praise

Sacrifice can be a blessed thing when we happily give our time to praise our awesome God. The writer in Hebrews 13:15 said, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Continually? Is that even possible? Well, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray all the time and is then followed in verse 18 by a command to give thanks in everything. So, I ask again, is that even possible? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Praying all the time may seem difficult or even impossible. Don’t we have to work? Don’t we have to take care of our family and our house and our possessions? We can’t spend all the time on our knees! But, when our hearts are completely tuned to the heart of God, and we recognize that His presence is the most joyful place in the universe, we can always be in an attitude of prayer; listening for God’s beautiful voice deep in our hearts, as well as whispering up to Him our concerns and petitions. We can do this while working, or even in the middle of a conversation with someone. A dear friend of mine says it this way: “Pray now – all the time!”.

Praising when circumstances are difficult seems even more impossible, and is definitely a sacrifice, but the rewards are amazing. And the more we know our fabulous God intimately, the easier it is. We are not the center of the universe – God is, and everything we think, say and do needs to honor Him!

David said in Psalm 27:6, “I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.” It brings joy to God’s beautiful heart when we honor Him above all our circumstances; and Psalm 50:23 confirms it, “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”

The Psalmist in Psalm 107:22 says, “Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.” This releases His power in our lives to change us into His beautiful image.

Reflection: When our entire life is centered around who God is, our outlook changes – and then circumstances can’t destroy our joy!