Make A Sacrifice Of Praise

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. Hebrews 13:15

Today’s scripture encourages us to offer God “a sacrifice of praise.” We often interpret this as praising God when we do not feel like praising Him, and that can certainly be a type of sacrifice. But I believe the writer is talking about praise actually being the sacrifice, not just doing it when we don’t feel like it.

The Old Testament sacrificial system required the blood of animals to atone for people’s sins. We, however, live in New Testament times, when we no longer need to put slain goats and bulls on an altar. Instead, the sacrifice—the offering—God wants from us today is to hear right words coming out of our mouths, rising up before His throne. Just as the smoke and the aroma of the animal sacrifices went up before His throne under the Old Covenant, the praise from our hearts rises up as a sacrifice before Him today. In Hebrews 13:15, the Lord was really saying, “The sacrifice I want now is the fruit of your lips thankfully acknowledging Me.”

We need to apply this scripture to our everyday lives, making sure that we speak God’s praises every chance we get. We need to tell people about all the great things He’s doing for us; we need to thank Him; we need to tell Him we love Him. In our hearts and with our mouths, we should go through our days praising Him. We need to be people of praise, acknowledging God “constantly and at all times.”