Friday... Yes, it gives us a positive spin.

Psalm 50:23 (NLT), "But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me, if you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God."

Friday... Yes, it gives us a positive spin.

But in reality, it is more than that. In two places in Psalm 50 it says giving thanks to God is a sacrifice.

If you go back in the Old Testament to Leviticus 7 you will read of many different sacrifices that people were to bring to God. Now you realize that all of these sacrifices are leading up to what we will be celebrating in a few day, the birth of Jesus who was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. But in verse 12a it says, "If you present your peace offering as an expression of thanksgiving, the usual animal sacrifice must be accompanied by various kinds of bread made without yeast." For those in the Old Testament thanksgiving was more than just some words that we say. And maybe that shows that to God it is more than just a positive spin on what he has done and does and will do for us.

Here is what Psalm 50:23 (NLT) says, "But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me, if you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God." And then verses 14 & 15 says, "Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God, and keep his vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."

Now maybe we don't sacrifice like what those in the Old Testament did but there is a sacrifice that we do give. It is the sacrifice of believing that we have our life under control, that we believe that we don't need God, that we can handle life all on our own. Well, we need to sacrifice that to God by giving him thanks for what he does for us. Celebrating Christmas is an acknowledgement that we needed something more than just the opportunity to live. We needed God and the gift of his Son. We need to thank God for the sacrifice that he gave to us through the birth of his Son.

And if we really do acknowledge our need of him through thanking him by keeping his vows then we can call on him when we are in trouble and he will rescue us and save us from our sins and our self dependence.

And yes, thanking him gives him honor. So during this time of giving we need to give thanks to God and honor him for who he is and what he has done and will do for and through us.

Yes, giving the sacrifice of thanksgiving to God is more than a positive spin. It truly honors him. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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