A Sacrifice of Praise

 by Elizabeth Stewart

"We bring the sacrifice of praise!" Those are the words to a chorus that was popular some years back, but it's based on the scripture found in Hebrews 13:15 (AMPC)"Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times, offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His Name."

Years ago, part way through praise and worship at church, God dropped a thought into my mind and heart.  I remembered the many times that my husband has reiterated something he once heard, "This life is but a dressing room for eternity."  With that in mind, the thought came to me that this life is the only time we will ever truly offer to God a sacrifice of praise.  Once we enter eternal life, we will no longer have to fight through the contrary thoughts of our mind, the turbulent emotions of our soul, the attention grabbing feelings of our body, the struggles of our sinful tendencies or the difficulties of our circumstances to praise Him.  In that day, praise will finally be truly, completely, unhindered by our flesh and our circumstances. But now, in the messy middle of living our life on this sin sick planet, is our one chance to offer to God a true sacrifice of praise. When circumstances are difficult, when our mind is easily distracted, when our emotions scream at us to give in to them, when our body is tired, or sick, or in pain-when we, in spite of all of these things, thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His Name, how sweet that must be to God's ears and to His heart. It is our declaration to our own flesh, to the enemy of our soul and to God Himself that we trust Him and believe in His goodness in spite of anything we are feeling or facing. In the here and now of this life, in this body of flesh, is our one chance to bless Him in this way. How long has it been since you, out loud, on purpose and in spite of what you feel or are facing, given God your sacrifice of praise? 

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