"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of our lips that confess his name." Hebrews 13:15, NIV.
THE VANITY OF SACRIFICE:
Sacrificing something created to the Creator who made it is redundant at best, since the Creator is the maker of that which you sacrifice, so it is already His. If you give gold from the ground it was thereby His doing. If you give a sheep or chicken that creature lives by God's enabling. If you give money you have it only because He gave you life to earn and invest.
Service, too, is only giving back to God what is already His, your life, since he gives every breath we breathe and every beat of our heart.
UNIQUE SACRIFICE:
Only one thing that is unique and originates within us- that is our praise. When rational intelligent people consider God and the work of his Christ we are driven to praise God. In giving praise to God we are giving what only we possess.
FRUIT OF OUR LIPS:
What the Bible calls the "Fruit of our lips" is the result of a process; as fruit is the result of growth through seasons and nurturing husbandry so the fruit of our lips is the end of time spent knowing God and experiencing his blessings. Sometimes we lack this fruit because we have not encouraged our relationship with God. We must spend time with God...
- In daily prayer,
- Bible reading,
- Time spent in His service,
- And participating in a community with those who live a life of faith in him.
THE GOOD CONFESSION:
The foundation of worship is to confess His name, the name of Jesus. God has ordained one way to experience fellowship and expressed it through Jesus who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the father but by me." John 14:6.
We must confess to God and man that Jesus is our Savior, that we acknowledge that he is the acceptable sacrifice when he died to pay for our sins, and we are trusting in him alone for our salvation from God's right anger for our sins, and the resurrection from the grave gives proof and guarantee of salvation.
May we all continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise.
© Adron 7/3/12
