A Sacrifice of Praise
Someday, every tongue will acknowledge Jesus is Lord, but for those of us who know Him already, our sacrifice to Him is a praise offering.
Hebrews 13:15 tells us, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name.” If we break down this one verse, there is so much to sink our teeth into!
The writer of Hebrews has just finished explaining in the previous verses that Jesus, our High Priest, suffered outside the city gate “to make the people holy through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12). Our response according to these verses is to “go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:13-14). Because Jesus suffered for us, to make us holy through His death and resurrection, we set ourselves apart for Him. We set ourselves apart from the world, looking different as we seek Him and grow in our relationship with Him. Our eternal home is yet to come. Therefore, we wait for our eternal reward and submit ourselves to the Lord, rejoicing in what He has done for us. Praise to the Lord is an overflow of our rejoicing.
This verse in Hebrews 13 tells us a sacrifice of praise is “the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Because we acknowledge Him as Lord, our lips bring a sacrifice of praise. That is our offering, produced in us out of the gratitude of our hearts for all the Lord has done for us. David said, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30). Jonah also speaks of a song of thanksgiving and acknowledges it as a sacrifice to the Lord, “But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD” (Jonah 2:9).
These verses remind me of the old hymn that says,
He is Lord, He is Lord;
He is risen from the dead, and He is Lord;
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Someday, every tongue will acknowledge Jesus is Lord, but for those of us who know Him already, our sacrifice to Him is a praise offering.
The writer of Hebrews also tells us; we are to continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God. If you looked up synonyms for continually you would find words like nonstop, unceasing, endless, and eternal. Each word reminding us that praise to our God is always on our tongue. Psalm 100:4 calls us to come before Him with praise, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to “give thanks in all circumstances.” No matter the season or the circumstances, our continual offering to the Lord is praise. He wants us to bring everything to Him and trust Him with every circumstance of our lives but let us do so with an offering of praise to Him for all that He has done.
“I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” (Psalms 34:1).
-Jennifer
