Sacrifice of Praise

"We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.  And we offer up to you, the sacrifices of Thanksgiving, and we offer up to you the sacrifices of of joy."

We sang this song at church last night as part of the worship service and while I've always found it bouncy and catchy, I never really stopped to think about what it means.  Obviously on the surface, its a song of praise and thanksgiving - but what is it really saying that we're doing?  What IS a sacrifice of praise?

Hebrews 13:15 says "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (NASB)"  In the days before Christ, God's people were required to offer up animal sacrifices as a sign of their devotion and obedience to Him.  Luckily for us (or at least for me - I couldn't even dissect a dead baby pig in college Biology without cringing), we are off the hook for the animal slaughter.  So, the least we can do is to offer us an offering of praise, right?

So, how often should we do this?  Just for the 25 minutes allotted a church when our worship bands or organists or liturgy readers lead us in a structured time of worship?  I hope not, because I'll be honest; I'm often really distracted during these times at church.  I'm not even sure that these times of organized corporate worship counts for me because I have so many worldly thoughts in my head.

We need to be thinking about how to offer up worship and praise to God continually as it says to do here.  When we're cussing that guy out who cut you off on the highway are you honoring God with your sacrifice?  When we're gossipping at the office about the crazy person in the other room are we offering up a sacrifice?

Our words have power.  Just read James 3 to see the intensity scripture places on what rolls off our tongue.  I intend to watch my mouth this week more than I have in the past. I intend to spend my mornings and my evenings and my in betweens thinking about my God and what He did for me.  I am going to try to offer up a sacrifice of praise not only with my mouth, but with my thoughts and with my actions.

PRAYER: O God, thank you for your Son Jesus and the sacrifice that You gave and that He gave so that I might have eternal life.  I am humbled by your gift and devastated by your grace.  Please send me reminders this week of Your Holiness and Your God-ness so that I might continually be reminded to always offer a sacrifice of praise and worship.  Help me curb my tongue, to be quick to listen, and slow to speak. Assist me in controlling my thoughts and thinking on things that reflect the kind of man I want to be.  Make me a better man.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

TODAY'S READING: The Seven Seasons of a Man's Life by Patrick M. Morley, Chapters 1 & 2