Choosing a Sacrifice of Thanks

Published Jul 9, 2024

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

I’ve sung the lyrics to Blessed Be Your Name so many times since it hit the worship song scene…released back in 2002, friends! Time flies when you’re worshipping the Lord.

I think my heart was always focused on that specific chunk of lyrics from the first moments I heard and sang them. Throughout my life He has given and taken away. Throughout my life, especially since becoming a Christian, I have chosen over and over to say Lord, blessed be Your name.

Then, sometime ago, I read the fourteenth verse in Psalm 50, “Sacrifice thank offerings to God…”

Instead of those above lyrics from Blessed Be Your Name a different one came to mind, “Though there’s pain in the offering”.

Pain. Though there is PAIN in the offering.

Sacrifice. Sacrifice is marked by giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.

Sacrifice can be painful. It can be painful, very painful, to offer up our thanksgiving to God. It can often be a sacrifice to be thankful.

Our thankfulness is a choice.

Our thankfulness is not always an easy choice.

Our thankfulness is a sacrifice.

When our circumstances are going well, it’s quite easy to say, “Hey!! God!! You’re great!! THANKS!!”

When our circumstances are not going so well, well, it’s not quite so easy. It’s far easier to question God and ask Him, “What in the world is happening? Why is this happening? I’m pretty sure this is not awesome.”

That’s when it’s the sacrifice.

That’s when there is pain in the offering.

I think, though, when we can make the decision to be thankful…despite our circumstances, it can be a beautiful witness to those around us. A beautiful witness without using any of our words. People can see us living a life of thankfulness despite the crazy happening around us, they can see us being and choosing to be thankful.

Nine years ago, tragedy struck a friend of ours. His brother and niece were gunned down while out for a family walk. His sister-in-law was also injured, a nephew and another niece were spared physical injury.

The Sunday after this tragedy, I witnessed that friend in church. We sang Blessed Be Your Name as part of our worship. With tears filling my eyes, I saw my friend RAISING HIS HANDS IN WORSHIP as he sang the lyrics.

…You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name…

The Lord had literally called his brother home to Himself. The Lord had literally taken away his brother. It was one of the darkest moments of his life, BUT…my friend was standing and raising his hands in worship as he sang, choosing thankfulness to the Lord. Sacrificing a thank offering to the Lord. All while being beautiful witness to anyone worshipping with him. He was living the lyrics as he sang them. There was pain in his offering. But he CHOOSE to say THANK YOU.

It would be not too long later that I would witness his sister-in-law standing in worship at the funeral of her husband and daughter. She arrived to the funeral by ambulance and left by ambulance to go back to the hospital to continue her recovery. She, too, made the decision to sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord through her worship. Being a beautiful witness to anyone worshiping with her. Pain in her offering. But CHOOSING to say THANK YOU.

The thing is, our sacrifice doesn’t have to be like my friend and his sister-in-law’s to be a sacrifice for you.

A sacrifice of thankfulness can be choosing to say THANK YOU GOD when it rains for the 3rd day straight.

A sacrifice of thankfulness can be choosing to say THANK YOU GOD when you burn dinner.

A sacrifice of thankfulness can be choosing to say THANK YOU GOD when your kids keep fighting all day long.

A sacrifice for you is a sacrifice for you.

Someone else’s sacrifice is someone else’s sacrifice.

The Lord just wants the sacrifice.

Though there is pain in the offering, will you choose to offer up sacrifices of thanks to God?