A Costly Offering

I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Psalm 116:17

During Old Testament times, approaching God was not a casual event, nor did it happen without some sort of sacrifice. Noah sacrificed the best of the animals he had carried through the flood; Abraham loved God so much that he was willing to offer his own son as a sacrifice; and Hannah promised God that if He would bless her with a son, she would “give him to the LORD all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11). All of these sacrifices were costly to the giver and demonstrated immense love and respect for Almighty God.

The literal practice of burnt offerings may no longer be necessary because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, but the idea of giving something of worth to the Lord before approaching Him is as important today as it was during the time of our ancestors. Some of the offerings we can give today are praise (Hebrews 13:15; Psalm 50:23), our gifts (Philippians 4:18), a humble heart (Psalm 51:17), and our lives (Romans 12:1-2).

May we never come to the Lord empty-handed, but let us “enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4).

Like our fathers of old, we need to get into the practice of building altars everywhere we go and offering our precious things upon them.

JIM GERRISH