Walking With Christ

Hebrews 13:15-16 (15)Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. (16)Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.(ESV)

1 Timothy 2:8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;(ESV)

Praise is a command. There will be days that we don’t feel like giving praise. There may be times where we are not comfortable giving praise. We may not want to give praise in front of other people or because of (insert reason here). Why? God is good all the time. We should offer praise in all things. We are called to lift our hands, sing, dance, and whatever else makes sense to us in praise.

Why was praise called a sacrifice?

In the days before Christ, sacrifices always cost something. A cow, sheep, birds, etc. There was always a cost. What is the sacrifice of praise?

It costs the energy to give it. It costs the time it takes to figure out what to be praising for. It takes time to arrange our schedules so that we can be at church or small groups, life groups, etc., and then there is the opportunity cost of those things we give up so that we can meet together.

Listen here. Time does not exist in heaven. We will never lack energy in heaven. This means that our praise now is a gift that we will never be able to give in heaven. Read that again. There will not be a sacrifice of time or energy in heaven.

Psalm 22:3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.(ESV)