Sacrifice of Praise

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”
Hebrews 13:15

Today is a glorious day – the sun is shining, the trees are blooming and all around are the indications of spring. It is one of those days where for me everything seems right with the world. In times like this praising God is anything but a sacrifice – or at least what we would define as sacrifice. When things are good we have no trouble finding the words to express how awesome God is, in fact we may think our words do not adequately express what we feel.

But then there are other days, days when the sun may be shining but all is not right with the world. On those days when our spirits and lives are shrouded by the gathering storm clouds, praise becomes a sacrifice. It can be so easy when life gets tough to not praise God, the words don’t come, the doubt creeps in and we scream why me.

The writer of Hebrews tells that “through Jesus” we are able to offer praise as a sacrifice. In difficult times we need to lay down our desire to have an “Oh woe is me, pity party” and praise God for the simple fact that He is God and we are able to take a life giving breath.

Maybe, some times our honest cries for help, of doubt, our asking why - is just as much praise as our words of thanksgiving and adoration.

Our God is an awesome God, deserving of every form of praise that we can conceive. I don’t know what kind of day you are having. I don’t know what the week holds for any of us. I want to encourage you to offer a sacrifice of praise whether the sun is shining or the storm clouds are gathering.

During this season of Lent and beyond I want my life to be a sacrifice of praise, how about you?

A prayer
Father – thank you for understanding that sometimes we find it hard to praise you. Help us in those times to embrace the storm and praise you any way we can. Hear the cries of our hearts, may they be pleasing to you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.