Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
Yes, yes, yes.
From Genesis to Revelation
God asks his children to come to him about everything.
God almost begs us to ask him and depend on him.
We are instructed to ask, seek and knock.
He wants our life to be one of total dependance on him.
But in the process have we become habitual
perpetual beggars?
Have we become like those people you only
see when they want something?
Does God only hear from us when we want something?
There is another side to the coin.
Consider.
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,
and for his wonderful works to the children of men.
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare his works with rejoicing."
(Psalms 107:21,22)
"... therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise
to God continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."
(Hebrews 13:15)
Of course we thank God for what he does for us.
God does something for us and we rejoice.
Like the lame man that was healed at the gate
beautiful. He ran and leaped and praised God.
And when God does something to please us we
rejoice too.
But is that "sacrifice"?
NO.
It comes easy. It is spontaneous. It comes
naturally. It comes without effort or cost.
That is not sacrifice.
Sacrifice is when it costs us something.
When it is an effort. When it hurts.
How about:
When we do not get our way.
When the tears are flowing.
When the heart is broken.
When the body hurts.
?
Do we still praise and thank him?
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2 comments:
earniec 57I've often thought along these lines Luther. When 'all is well', it's so easy to thank God. When things are tough, it's harder to make that choice, and when life is downright hard and unfair and unjust... THAT'S when our praise means something. And of course, when we do that, we learn so much about who we are and who God is.
Great post.
Ditto to Sonja.
I remind myself often that "faith isn't faith until you need to use it." For me, learning to be content NO MATTER WHAT is always the acid test; and what flows from my heart the evidence of what's stored there. I would like to think that's always praise.
Blessings,
Kathleen
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