A Sacrifice Of Praise
“Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.” — Hebrews 13:15 (CSB)
Nobody in the Old Testament walked to the altar with an animal they didn't care about. That was the whole point. A sacrifice that costs you nothing isn't a sacrifice, it's a gesture.
The writer of Hebrews calls praise a sacrifice, and that word is doing real work. A sacrifice costs something by definition. That is the whole reason it counts as one.
So when praise is called a sacrifice, it's telling you something honest. Sometimes worship is easy and rises out of you on its own. And sometimes it costs you everything you've got to open your mouth.
That's the praise this verse is talking about. The kind you offer on the drive home from the hospital. The kind you get out through your teeth when the news was not what you prayed for.
Notice the word continually. Not when you feel like it. Not when the circumstances cooperate. Continually, which means there are days it's going to be an offering rather than an overflow.
The context matters too. Hebrews was written to believers who were losing property and watching friends get arrested. This wasn't a comfortable congregation being told to cheer up. It was a suffering one being told what to hold onto.
And here's why it still counts. Praise in a hard season says something that praise in an easy season can't. Anybody will thank God when the report is clean. Thanking Him when it isn't says you believe He's good apart from what He gives.
That's not denial. You can tell God the truth about your grief and still tell Him the truth about His goodness in the same breath. The psalms do it constantly.
Praise that costs nothing proves nothing. Praise that costs something proves everything.
The fruit of lips that confess his name. Some days that fruit comes easy. Some days you have to go get it.
Offer God one sentence of praise today about something that hasn't gotten easier. You can wait until worship feels natural, or you can bring Him the offering it costs you today. One of those He called a sacrifice.
Prayer
Faithful God, some days praise rises out of me and some days I have to carry it to You. Today I bring You what it costs. You are good when the news is good, and You are good when it is not. I confess Your name in this season, not because I understand it, but because I trust You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Nobody in the Old Testament walked to the altar with an animal they didn't care about. That was the whole point. A sacrifice that costs you nothing isn't a sacrifice, it's a gesture.
The writer of Hebrews calls praise a sacrifice, and that word is doing real work. A sacrifice costs something by definition. That is the whole reason it counts as one.
So when praise is called a sacrifice, it's telling you something honest. Sometimes worship is easy and rises out of you on its own. And sometimes it costs you everything you've got to open your mouth.
That's the praise this verse is talking about. The kind you offer on the drive home from the hospital. The kind you get out through your teeth when the news was not what you prayed for.
Notice the word continually. Not when you feel like it. Not when the circumstances cooperate. Continually, which means there are days it's going to be an offering rather than an overflow.
The context matters too. Hebrews was written to believers who were losing property and watching friends get arrested. This wasn't a comfortable congregation being told to cheer up. It was a suffering one being told what to hold onto.
And here's why it still counts. Praise in a hard season says something that praise in an easy season can't. Anybody will thank God when the report is clean. Thanking Him when it isn't says you believe He's good apart from what He gives.
That's not denial. You can tell God the truth about your grief and still tell Him the truth about His goodness in the same breath. The psalms do it constantly.
Praise that costs nothing proves nothing. Praise that costs something proves everything.
The fruit of lips that confess his name. Some days that fruit comes easy. Some days you have to go get it.
Offer God one sentence of praise today about something that hasn't gotten easier. You can wait until worship feels natural, or you can bring Him the offering it costs you today. One of those He called a sacrifice.
Prayer
Faithful God, some days praise rises out of me and some days I have to carry it to You. Today I bring You what it costs. You are good when the news is good, and You are good when it is not. I confess Your name in this season, not because I understand it, but because I trust You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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