Bible Verse of the Day Friday November 3rd, 2023

Hebrews 13:15-16 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

As Christians, followers, and believers in Christ Jesus, we do not offer blood sacrifices as recorded in the Old Testament. Since we do not worship in and through Jewish sacrifices, we have a new way of worshiping God. We now have a mediator between us and God, Christ Jesus. This role that Jesus took on at the Cross enables all that is surrendered to him to worship God. As Christians, we can now represent ourselves on God’s throne through our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. We no longer need priests to offer our sacrifice for us, Jesus has made a one-time sacrifice on the Cross. We have only to surrender and sacrifice our lives to Jesus and the work of spreading His gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). The sacrifice that we, as Christians, offer today is praise and worship without ceasing. In the New Testament, we learn that every believer and follower in Christ is a priest (1 Peter 2:5); furthermore, we are not only a priest but a royal priest (1 Peter 2:9). As Christians today, we can offer sacrifices of praise to God, in other words, we present ourselves, our lives surrendered to Jesus. We do most certainly have an altar (The Cross), and we also have a High Priest (Jesus). Consequently, we should always offer the sacrifice of ourselves to God.

God measures our character through our sacrifice of praise. Our worship time is when we as followers and believers in Christ Jesus open our hearts and souls to Christ Jesus, surrendering ourselves, our hearts, minds, bodies, souls, and spirit. During worship times, our minds are focused on Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on our behalf, and not what, where, and with whom we will be going to lunch with. Our praise should go forth whether we are going through good times or bad times. When we find ourselves in some deep dark valley, remember the dark valley our Lord and Savior walked through, carrying His Cross, as he ascended the Hill of Calvary. We must never forget He sacrificed His life for us; He gave up everything He had for us. What can bring us down when we see what Jesus did for us? In life, the only thing that matters is Jesus.

In the opening of this verse of scripture we see that praise is connected here with sacrifice. A sacrifice is something that includes a cost to us; it may not always be the most comfortable option. We are to go out of our way without a thought of personal comfort to tell or show others the glory of Christ. He who acts only within the boundaries of comfort is not offering to the Lord any sacrifice of praise at all and will not please God.