9.5.13

Psalms 50:14-15 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God and keep the 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.



My Thoughts



I love this verse every time I read it... and if you have followed my Bible verse thoughts at all you have probably seen me write about the verse several times. Being thankful is so simple, but it is so huge!

Every time I read this verse I am reminded of the sacrifices the Israelites made to God. They would have to give the first born animal, an animal without blemish, not even a wart. The first time I noticed this verse I thought of those sacrifices the Israelites made and how they were a sacrifice to the people...not only were they giving up some of their food.... it took probable a year to raise this perfect animal to give to God. They had to pay attention and know where this baby animal came from... if it was the first born of its mother. Then they had to check it out from head to toe and make sure there was not a single thing wrong with this animal... checking every single tiny spot, not missing a thing. I am sure they fed this animal the finest grain... groomed it... kept it in a special place in the barn making sure that it was perfect for the time of sacrifice. So many of the sacrifices were made at special times so they couldn't just sacrifice it the day it was born and perfect...they had to keep and eye on it and keep it perfect.

I imagine that the time they spent with this animal is a time they thought about God and how pleased God would be...and this took time each and every day. Keeping an animal perfect took time... it was a sacrifice of time as well as a sacrifice of food.

Yet all that God ask of us is that we make thankfulness our sacrifice. This means that we truly need to take time in our day for being thankful. We need to take time being aware ... just as aware as the Israelite had to be of the perfection of his animal... aware of how all that we have comes from God.. We need to spend time each morning and each evening and some time in between being thankful. The Israelites could not go out in the field on the day of celebration and just pick out any animal...they had to use an animal that took their time and their awareness. We can't just show up on Sunday at Church and say a flippant, "Thanks God." We need to be aware each day... we need to sacrifice some of our time and be truly thankful!

I think that when we are that aware in our thankfulness we are more likely and more able to keep our vows to God...and when we do that we can call on Him when we are in trouble and He will rescue us...and because we are aware enough to be thankful we will give Him the glory.

Each time I read this verse, I am once again reminded how important it is to be thankful to God for everything in my life. I am aware that being thankful should take time... that I should take as I say, "Thank you God."