The Praise of Sacrifice

When I was a kid we used to sing this song in church that went “we bring a sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.”  If you know this song, you’re probably singing along right now, aren’t you?  It comes from a verse in Hebrews that says the same idea.  And it’s an ok song, but for me the “sacrifice of praise” has never really been a sacrifice for me.  I know a lot of guys don’t like to sing, but I do. 

And I sing loud. 

Just ask anyone who has ever sat in front of me in church.  Or behind me for that matter.  Singing praise is not really much of a sacrifice.

For me, there is a lot more to be said about the praise of sacrifice than the sacrifice of praise.  There are times in life when we feel like we’ve lost something, like we have been asked to sacrifice something (however big or small) for God.  Sometimes we do this willingly, and then other times it seems as though God simply takes things out of our lives.  When the latter happens, we often ask the question “why?”

The real answer to that is far too intricate to get into here because a full answer would be different for everybody.  Often while we come to understand a little of the “why” after the fact, this is not much help in the middle of our time of sacrifice.   However, in the midst of our trials when God requires a sacrifice from us, even though we don’t know the ultimate outcome, we can choose to praise Him the whole time.  This means that suddenly the “why” becomes a little clearer in the moment: we sacrifice something we love in order to praise our God whom we love more.  There are times for a sacrifice of praise and there are times for a praise of sacrifice.

I express praise through worship.

I experience praise through sacrifice.

If you are feeling like God is asking for a sacrifice, or are wondering why you are experiencing the loss in your life right now, know that this is an opportunity for you to experience the kind of praise that goes beyond mere words and becomes a lifestyle.