Sacrifice of Praise

Hebrew 13:15

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

The Message says it this way:
Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.

Father, I love this passage. Through our Lord Jesus and through Him alone are we able to praise Your name and call You Lord!

The Message clarifies and unites this verse with the preceding verses, which speak of Jesus going outside the camp.

His sacrifice outside the city gates on the Cross, made us holy. Blood no longer has to be shed to satisfy God's wrath against sin.

Now, instead of our own way of offering sacrifices, from within we bear the fruit of pure and thankful praise, confessing Him as Lord.

A "sacrifice of praise" means what? Are we sacrificing anything when we praise You? In reality, no sacrifice can be compared to Jesus' sacrifice which stands alone for the redemption of mankind. It is the ultimate of sacrifices.

Webster says sacrifice can mean:
1. an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar;
2. destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else
Looking up in the Greek, "sacrifice" in this verse means victim.
Jesus was the victim offered on the altar.

But as believers and Your children, we ourselves are not victims. Blood no longer has to be shed. We, now, are able to bring to Your altar something else that blesses You.

We can offer our own sacrifice to You, which has everything to do with the Cross of Jesus.

"Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name. " ( Yes, You say "continually").

And as Webster explains it a sacrifice can be the destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else.

When You are teaching us the price Jesus paid on the Cross to bring us to You free of sin, thankfulness and praise flow out of our heart to Your altar and it is pleasing to You.

Sometimes the will of the flesh has to be surrenderd in order for us to flow in the continual praise. Sometimes our emotions must be destroyed by the acknowledgement of what we know is Truth according to Your Word.

A sacrifice of praise is not about what we think we can produce for You. It flows continually from within our hearts because of what Jesus has already done for us at the Cross.

Thank You, Father, for Jesus.