Giving Thanks Is A Sacrifice….

Have you ever thought about the sacrificial system the Israelites had instituted and practiced for years and years? It wasn’t the slaying of animals that God wanted, even though it was the blood of these animals that allowed their sins to be temporarily forgiven (meaning their actual death). It was their obedience to God in doing these acts that really mattered. Since the sacrificial system was halted by the Jews when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and permanently by Jesus on the cross, our obedience to God is revealed in different means. What May those be, you ask? Giving Thanks. It says it right here in Psalm 50. Giving thanks is a sacrifice. How is that? I’m not fully sure, but if you think about it, being thankful takes work. We don’t always “feel” grateful, do we? We allow our emotions to take over, giving into them, and we start down the “woe is me” path. We usually want to take the credit for what happens to us, right? Gratitude doesn’t exist on that journey. So we have to sacrifice our feelings and do what we know is right, what is true. That might just be the sacrifice this Psalm is talking about. We have to die to our selfishness, and do the right thing. That’s what real obedience looks like. Gratitude is hard work. Thankfulness is a sacrifice to God, that honors Him. Are you making a sacrifice to honor God today? If not, what’s holding you back?

23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors Me. If you keep to My path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.” Psalms 50:23