Hebrews 13:15–16 (NET) “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name. And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.”
In my devotions today, I have come across a statement that makes my “ears” perk up every time that I hear/read it; “for God is pleased with such sacrifices.”. My life as a worshiper of Jesus should be pleasing to God. So, when I read such a statement in the Bible I should immediately take note of what it is that is pleasing the One in which I have dedicated myself to. Right?
I am married, and I spend a lot of my time just trying to find out what pleases my wife. After I figure that out, I then try to do that thing often – because I love her and am committed to her forever. I want her to be blessed at the level of which I attempt to please her! My bride deserves such attention just simply because I have committed myself to being her husband, to provide for her and make her the priority of my life here on earth. I have a covenant with her to unconditionally love her no matter what trials or joys come our way, and to show her that love. In much the same way, I have a covenant with God, through Jesus, to offer up my life to Him and bless Him with the level of devotion I give to Him. He loves us unconditionally and has done all of the work necessary to remove all obstacles that would keep us from Him, now it is up to us to enter into that place of pleasing Him with everything that we do!
If I can, I would like to continue with the analogy of marriage. I recognize the importance of speaking out affirmation to my wife. I can watch her face light up when I say something about her that I love. I can see the love in her eyes when I seek to please her with words of affirmation. The encouragement from the author is to “let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.” (through him, Jesus). God loves to hear from our mouths what makes Him special, set apart, what makes us love Him, what excites us about Him, etc. I love this about God! Let’s not forget that He is worthy to receive such affirmation too, right? So let’s please Him by spending much of our time offering up words from our heart that affirm who He is and what He has done for us.
There are a few other things that I can think of off the top of my head that please God too. He is pleased by faith (Heb. 11:6), He is pleased by a humble and repentant heart (Ps. 51:17), a renewed mind and a body that is surrendered to holiness (Rom. 12:1-2), doing good (above), share what you have with others (above), etc. Everything we say and do should be out of the desire to please God!
Finally, I will end with this Scripture, Hebrews 12:28 (NET) “So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe.” Offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe!! How much “awe” do we have about God? How much “devotion” to God do our lives display? Are we doing things that please God? How much do we acknowledge His name, as it states in the text sited above? How much time do we give to “giving thanks” to God through the Lord Jesus Christ?
Spend time today and offer up worship that is pleasing to God, the One in which we should dedicate our entire lives to please! Have fun!