Lips That Give Thanks

This is the twelfth and final “Let us” resolution from the book of Hebrews: “Through Him [Jesus] then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15 nasb). To me, this resolution is very appropriate and beautiful because it is something we are instructed to keep on doing. If we continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, all year long, it will make all the difference as to what the year holds for each of us.

This final step of offering up a sacrifice of praise to God relates directly, and in a practical way, to the two previous steps, which were, “Let us show gratitude” and “Let us go forth to Him outside the gate.”

Gratitude naturally leads to praise. There are many passages in the Bible in which thanksgiving is related to praise. One of the most beautiful is Psalm 100:4:

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.”

The first step in gaining access to God is thanksgiving; the second step is praise. Thanksgiving leads to praise. It finds expression in praise, and it flows out in praise.

The step just before this one, “Let us go forth to Him outside the camp,” brings us release from the two slaveries of pleasing self and pleasing the world. Again, this step is directly related to offering the sacrifice of praise. You might not see it at first, but there are two hindrances to spontaneous, free-flowing praise in our lives: love of self and love of the world. As long as our affections are centered in ourselves or in the world, we are not really free to praise God. The cross removes these two hindrances and sets us free to praise God.