RECIPROCATING THE COSTLIEST SACRIFICE
Monday, September 13, 2010
Verse for Today
Hebrews 13:15- Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of the lips that confess His name.
It is natural to expect us to express our gratitude to others for favors received. Any one who doesn't respond to helps received is considered an ungrateful person and this is not considered an appreciable quality in most cultures of the world. Even animals express their thanks to some extent through certain gestures. If so, how much more are we expected to appreciate what God does for us! When we receive various blessings from God, we are expected to acknowledge it qualitatively. Ultimately it is the internal gratitude that is most important. If there is true internal gratitude, it will find its expressions of various kind. We can pretend to be grateful to man and might get with it. But this is not possible with God who sees our hearts and motives. If we do not mean it, it would not be accepted by God as thanksgiving. God expects us to be truly grateful to Him for all that He has done for us and what He does each day for us. And God expects us to express our true gratitude through the fruit of our lips which are used while alone and in the presence of other people. It is thus an acknowledgement that the benefit received is not obtained through any of our smartness and qualification. We must accept the fact that we are utterly unqualified to receive any favor from God because we lost all our privileges through Adam and Eve. So what we receive is unmerited favor which the Bible calls grace. When grace is received, it deserves far greater and deeper expression of gratitude. It should involve some sacrifice rather than simple and empty words which do not cost us any thing. Any sacrifice should cost us something that we could have enjoyed ourselves, but are willing to forgo for the Lord who showed so much of grace to us. If He has given His best to us, we are to give our best to Him. If He has come into time and seasons for us, we are to at least give Him our best of times for Him to use the way He wants. If He showed us mercy, we need to show mercy to others who deserve it. If He has given us peace, we need to share this peace with people who do not enjoy the peace of God.
Dear friend, have you been sacrificing any thing tangible for the Lord who has given you far more than you ever expected and far greater than what you deserve? If not, in Heaven's language, you are considered an ungrateful person. Even if we do our best in terms of sacrifice for Him, it would never match what He has done for us. So it is unthinkable when we do not do at least what we can. But this deserves a deep commitment to the Lord who gave Himself for you. It needs true love to Him for loving you even when you were unlovable. It demands true spirit of gratefulness and a sense of what you have enjoyed from Him. Such a life itself will be one of sacrifice on the alter so that the old self will be dead and the new person living in you will do any thing possible to demonstrate true love, loyalty, allegiance and commitment. Unless you give yourself to the Lord in return for His love and grace, He will not be satisfied because He wants you and not some coins that you might drop in the offering box. As a matter of fact, whatever you give to Him as material things, or a part of your time, it will never match what He has done for you. This thought ought to motivate you and compel you to give yourself and all that you have as a sacrifice of praise at His feet. Remember, He wants you more than what you have as a true expression of your love to Him. The Law of the Old Testament demanded a tenth of all that God's people had, to be submitted as part of their worship, but the New Testament of love demands ourselves first to be followed with all that we have. Once we give ourselves to Him, we would have given all that we have also. Let that be the kind of sacrifice of praise we offer at the feet of Jesus as a mark of our gratitude to Him for all that He has done for our souls.
Psalm 50:14 - Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High.
Thought for Today
The love of God demonstrated on the cross of Calvary will not be satisfied unless we give ourselves and all that we have as a sacrifice of praise.
Verse for Today
Hebrews 13:15- Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of the lips that confess His name.
It is natural to expect us to express our gratitude to others for favors received. Any one who doesn't respond to helps received is considered an ungrateful person and this is not considered an appreciable quality in most cultures of the world. Even animals express their thanks to some extent through certain gestures. If so, how much more are we expected to appreciate what God does for us! When we receive various blessings from God, we are expected to acknowledge it qualitatively. Ultimately it is the internal gratitude that is most important. If there is true internal gratitude, it will find its expressions of various kind. We can pretend to be grateful to man and might get with it. But this is not possible with God who sees our hearts and motives. If we do not mean it, it would not be accepted by God as thanksgiving. God expects us to be truly grateful to Him for all that He has done for us and what He does each day for us. And God expects us to express our true gratitude through the fruit of our lips which are used while alone and in the presence of other people. It is thus an acknowledgement that the benefit received is not obtained through any of our smartness and qualification. We must accept the fact that we are utterly unqualified to receive any favor from God because we lost all our privileges through Adam and Eve. So what we receive is unmerited favor which the Bible calls grace. When grace is received, it deserves far greater and deeper expression of gratitude. It should involve some sacrifice rather than simple and empty words which do not cost us any thing. Any sacrifice should cost us something that we could have enjoyed ourselves, but are willing to forgo for the Lord who showed so much of grace to us. If He has given His best to us, we are to give our best to Him. If He has come into time and seasons for us, we are to at least give Him our best of times for Him to use the way He wants. If He showed us mercy, we need to show mercy to others who deserve it. If He has given us peace, we need to share this peace with people who do not enjoy the peace of God.
Dear friend, have you been sacrificing any thing tangible for the Lord who has given you far more than you ever expected and far greater than what you deserve? If not, in Heaven's language, you are considered an ungrateful person. Even if we do our best in terms of sacrifice for Him, it would never match what He has done for us. So it is unthinkable when we do not do at least what we can. But this deserves a deep commitment to the Lord who gave Himself for you. It needs true love to Him for loving you even when you were unlovable. It demands true spirit of gratefulness and a sense of what you have enjoyed from Him. Such a life itself will be one of sacrifice on the alter so that the old self will be dead and the new person living in you will do any thing possible to demonstrate true love, loyalty, allegiance and commitment. Unless you give yourself to the Lord in return for His love and grace, He will not be satisfied because He wants you and not some coins that you might drop in the offering box. As a matter of fact, whatever you give to Him as material things, or a part of your time, it will never match what He has done for you. This thought ought to motivate you and compel you to give yourself and all that you have as a sacrifice of praise at His feet. Remember, He wants you more than what you have as a true expression of your love to Him. The Law of the Old Testament demanded a tenth of all that God's people had, to be submitted as part of their worship, but the New Testament of love demands ourselves first to be followed with all that we have. Once we give ourselves to Him, we would have given all that we have also. Let that be the kind of sacrifice of praise we offer at the feet of Jesus as a mark of our gratitude to Him for all that He has done for our souls.
Psalm 50:14 - Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High.
Thought for Today
The love of God demonstrated on the cross of Calvary will not be satisfied unless we give ourselves and all that we have as a sacrifice of praise.
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