Regardless of what we are going through in this life we are told to give thanks and tell of all that God has done, to all who would listen.
As we read through the Psalms we see that they are full of praise and thanksgiving (a form of worship).
God doesn’t necessarily need our praise and worship though, especially not in the form of sacrifice – in the past people used to offer physical sacrifices as a way of honouring the Lord our God and giving thanks.
But somewhere along the way it became ritualistic worship.
The sacrifices were there as absolution for our sins; to get us on a right footing with God. However, all to often the process of giving sacrificially was being taken for granted. People were threatened by the religious order and it became a duty.
Amos 5:21-24 (Good News Translation) tells us that at some point God obviously got so tired of their sacrifices that He would no longer accept them. “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them!” God said. He went on to say that they were to “stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to them…”
Amos wrote this during a time of relative peace and prosperity, but also when the people were neglecting God’s laws. He spoke against an increased disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor. Maybe this is something that we need to take heed of in these days.
God wants us to acknowledge Him and follow His Ways, so that our lives would be better off.
A hundred years or so later Jeremiah prophesied to the people and also picked up on this point that God doesn’t want our sacrifices but wants us to act on His Word. “I wanted them to trust Me and obey My voice. In those early days, I told them, ‘I will be your God, and you will be My people. Follow Me every step of the way into a life that is good.’” Jeremiah 7:23 (The Voice)
The New Testament tells us that God came in the person of his son Jesus Christ to take the penalty of sin and shame, by offering himself as the sacrifice for our sin. Through that sacrifice, God’s love and holiness were both fully expressed and satisfied, and we need make no further sacrifice for our sin.
But that shouldn’t detract us from giving of our praise and worship – we should give it anyway! Because of all the marvellous things that He has done in our lives and provided for us.
Not out of a sense of duty, or because we feel obliged to – but because we want to! We should be thankful regardless what this life throws at us and praise the Lord with all of our hearts.
But we need to be reminded (especially in our increasingly secular world that we have become accustomed with) that we need to firstly acknowledge Him and follow His Ways. For it is only when we start living the way that He intended that we truly get to live a life that is good.
Psalm 118:24 says that “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
(New King James Version)
And Psalm 117 says that “All of you nations, come praise the Lord! Let everyone praise him. His love for us is wonderful; his faithfulness never ends. Shout praises to the Lord.”
(Contemporary English Version)
So, what does it mean for you to firstly acknowledge God, and then secondly to “follow Him every step of the way into a life that is good.“
The life and times of Perry... 