What gift can we give to God, the "giver of all good gifts"?
On the surface, it seems ridiculous that we could offer Almighty God anything worthwhile. He is our creator and he sent his son Jesus to die for us - nothing we give could hope to match what he has already done for us.
Yet the writer of Hebrews suggests that praising God is a valuable gift we can give our Lord. In Hebrews 13, he writes: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name."
A sacrifice to God is a gift. And praise is a sacrifice. It is a sacrifice in the Old Testament sense of an offering to God; but, it is also a personal sacrifice in that it requires us to give something of ourselves.
It will cost us something if we do it with all our hearts "continually" as Hebrews says.
In her book Praise Works!, author Rali Macaulay writes: "Although praising God is very important, it is even more important to give him acceptable praise."
In other words, repeating words by rote is not a costly gift of praise. It's giving something second-best.
Macaulay offers her own guidelines for "acceptable praise". She calls on us to prepare for our time of praise by:
Macaulay urges us to meditate on what the scriptures tell us about God. As we learn more about him, we will know him better. And gratefulness will flow out of us.
I have found that to be true in my own life as I have spent time in the Psalms reading the great descriptions of God - his qualities of awesome power and everlasting love. I have found that meditating on passages in Psalms a great launching pad for praising the Lord.
Macaulay notes that praising God is not a one-way street. As we give him a gift of praise, he gives back gifts of peace, joy, and hope.
God will never be out-given.
On the surface, it seems ridiculous that we could offer Almighty God anything worthwhile. He is our creator and he sent his son Jesus to die for us - nothing we give could hope to match what he has already done for us.
Yet the writer of Hebrews suggests that praising God is a valuable gift we can give our Lord. In Hebrews 13, he writes: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name."
A sacrifice to God is a gift. And praise is a sacrifice. It is a sacrifice in the Old Testament sense of an offering to God; but, it is also a personal sacrifice in that it requires us to give something of ourselves.
It will cost us something if we do it with all our hearts "continually" as Hebrews says.
In her book Praise Works!, author Rali Macaulay writes: "Although praising God is very important, it is even more important to give him acceptable praise."
In other words, repeating words by rote is not a costly gift of praise. It's giving something second-best.
Macaulay offers her own guidelines for "acceptable praise". She calls on us to prepare for our time of praise by:
- Forgiving anyone who may have offended us (Mark 11:25);
- Asking God to fill us with his love for others (Luke 10:27);
- Coming before him with "sincerity of heart and reverence"; and
- Expecting him to receive our praise - not ignoring it, but responding to it.
Macaulay urges us to meditate on what the scriptures tell us about God. As we learn more about him, we will know him better. And gratefulness will flow out of us.
I have found that to be true in my own life as I have spent time in the Psalms reading the great descriptions of God - his qualities of awesome power and everlasting love. I have found that meditating on passages in Psalms a great launching pad for praising the Lord.
Macaulay notes that praising God is not a one-way street. As we give him a gift of praise, he gives back gifts of peace, joy, and hope.
God will never be out-given.
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