LEARNING DAILY

 

Hebrews 13:15-16, Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

 

Hebrews 13 is the conclusion to the book of Hebrews.  In the conclusion, the author writes a number of moral directions for the reader to be following. The two directives in the verses above follow the statement that Christians are to be “seeking the city to come”. That city we are to be seeking is the New Jerusalem spoken of in The Revelation.

 

Offering a “sacrifice of praise to God with our lips is from Hosea 14:2. “In contrast to the animal sacrifices in the Old Covenant system, Christians now offer sacrifices of praise and worship to God” (DJSB notes). Charles Spurgeon has given this comment on these verses: “We (Christians) are called upon to offer a continual sacrifice. Instead of presenting in the morning and in the evening a sacrifice of lambs, and on certain holy days bringing bullocks and sheep to be slain, we are to present to God continually the sacrifice of praise. Having done with the outward, we now give ourselves entirely to the inward and to the spiritual.”

 

The sacrifices you and I are to offer are spiritual sacrifices. We sacrifice through Jesus Christ. Why? Read verse 12 because it tells us that He sanctifies His people through His shed blood; He sets us apart. Through Jesus Christ we continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, the Father; each of us has come to the Father through Jesus’ death on the cross and through His resurrection. We cannot come to the Father on our own merit; it is only through the cross of Calvary. Because we are saved through Jesus Christ, we serve God through Jesus and His sacrifice. To offer anything God accepts as worship, it must come because we are set apart by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It seems like you and I need to take advantage of being set apart by the Lord Jesus Christ and come boldly before God’s throne offering our sacrifices of praise and worship for what He has done for us.

 

Our praise should be overflowing with thanksgiving and the praise of being in His presence. It comes from knowing who God is, knowing His character and because of what He has done for us through Jesus. Giving praise as the fruit of our lips reminds me of what was written about what is in our heart comes out of our mouth. Is what comes off our lips praiseworthy or something else? Don’t even think I am pointing a finger at anyone right now; when I point, I have too many fingers pointing back at me! All of us need to do better in this regard.

 

Let’s quickly look at verse 16 because when we have been blessed with such great blessings, we need to share them with others. Just think about the ways you can share what God has blessed you with. Everyone needs to be encouraged. How can you do that today where you are? Our praise is to be offered continually! Go back and read the last few words of the verses above. Go ahead – I’ll wait! What did you see? When we praise God and share praises with others, God is pleased!

 

Try lifting up someone in your family, or coworkers. When you pray try offering praise to God through Jesus Christ instead of just making requests known. I just bet you are going to experience something new in your relationship to “Our father in heaven”!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.