THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus

Monday, June 19, 2023

Lord, sacrifices for forgiveness and to honor you have been offered since you revealed yourself to mankind.

You made the first sacrifice for Adam and Eve after they sinned through disobedience. You shed the blood of a perfect, innocent animal to cover their sin. You take sin seriously and set the pattern for obtaining forgiveness through the shedding of innocent blood.

The psalmist describes your response to these blood sacrifices. To paraphrase, the Lord says, you think you are honoring me, but your sacrifices mean nothing—your heart is cold toward me. You are mechanical, mindlessly going through the motions of worship, (Psalm 50). Talk about being blunt.

Even after the ultimate sacrifice of the shedding of your Son Jesus’ blood on the cross for our redemption from sin, our hearts are not always fully engaged in worship. We may virtue-signal how we deny ourselves an activity or cease a meaningless endeavor just to appear pious. Our actions may fool some, but Lord, you know our heart.

You revealed to the psalmist the sacrifice you desire:

“Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High,” (Psalm 50:14) (NLT)

Complaining and thankfulness cannot coexist. Worshiping you, God, from a thankful heart makes keeping our commitment to follow you much easier.

A thankful heart acknowledges you are our source of life, and in You, God, we move, live, and have our being (Acts 17:38).

A thankful heart allows joy and peace reign in our heart.

A thankful heart compels us to share the Good News of your love, mercy, and grace through faith in our Savior, Jesus

“But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me,”—Psalm 50:23(NLT)

You have the final Word, Jesus. Amen!