"The Sacrifice"

"The Sacrifice"

"How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" Palm 137:4
"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.'  Hebrews 13:15

One of the definitions for the word sacrifice is: an act of giving up something.  The Bible talks about giving a sacrifice to God.  In the Old Testament it primarily dealt with the offering of some animal to be killed on an altar.  In the New Testament (as in the verse above) it primarily deals with the attitude of the heart.  A sacrifice of praise is talked about.  Praise is an attitude of the heart-- an attitude of gratitude.  

The giving of praise is not always easy, especially when you are in a "strange land".  The whole world is in a "strange land" at the present.  We are in a place that is totally unfamiliar to us.  We are in a place where we have never been before-- dealing with a pandemic, riots, violence, racism, isolation, hatred, abuse of power, anti everything we have stood for, the loss of freedoms, the loss of jobs, the uncertainty about the future of our nation, family and selves, manipulations, and trying to discern truth from lies-- it is all strange to us.  With so much happening around us from day to day, how can we offer the sacrifice of praise?  How can we give anything to God when we are consumed with the state of our world and the fearful events taken place?  

How can we give it is not where our focus should be.  The focus should be on -- just give it!  You have got to give God your praise.  You have got to give it in spite of the storms raging around you, in spite of the bad reports, in spite of the uncertainty, in spite of the fear.  You have to make yourself take the step of faith and give Him a sacrifice of praise.  Take control of your flesh, take your thoughts captive and make them get inline with your spirit-- which is connected to God and wants to reach out in praise to Him.  

If you are going to make it through these "times that try men's souls-- a strange land" you are going to have to praise your way through it.  Sacrifices that are brought to God should be done willingly and cheerfully.  But if you are so oppressed by this "strange land" you have found yourself in and you can't do it freely or cheerfully, just pick up your praise and give it anyway.  Force yourself.  Open your mouth in praise to God even if you don't feel like it.  Once you do, and keep on doing it, you will feel the weight lift, the oppression will subside, the fear will begin to dissipate, and the enemy will begin to flee because God's presence will come near-- He inhabits the praise of His people. (Psalm 22:3)  Don't wait until you feel like praising Him.  Don't wait until things "get better".  Don't wait until you see a change.  Don't wait until you see a glimmer of hope.  You may be bringing it from an attitude of despair but it will soon turn into an attitude of gratitude, victory and strength!!

Have a great day.  Bring a sacrifice of praise to the Lord even in a "strange land".