A Sacrifice of Praise through Worship, Part 1

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:4-7b

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”  This precious value, then, is for you who believe;

Insights:  In this weeks Thoughts by Scott we are going to investigate the divisiveness of worship.  Today and tomorrow are the only day in which this divisiveness will be addressed regarding the church.  For the remainder of the week we will be looking at the divisiveness between Christ-followers and the lost world.  Regarding the divisiveness of worship in the midst of the body of Christ, let me point out the picture being presented in today’s verses.  Notice with me the language being used in regards to Jesus.  The verse calls Jesus choice and precious.  In other words, Jesus is the most valuable commodity in the entire universe and beyond.  There is absolutely nothing that compares to His greatness and worth.  It is out of this understanding of the value of Jesus that we begin to praise the Lord.  Tomorrow we are going to go into more depth and specifics regarding the rest of this idea I am about to introduce to you.  Until tomorrow, however, let me briefly point out what we are to be doing in regards to this choice and precious living stone, Jesus.  We are, as holy priests, to be offering up spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God.  In other words, because Christ Jesus is so valuable, we are to offer Him our everything.  Our offering ought to hurt, in a good way, as we willing give sacrificially to this great and glorious God who gave His very life for ours.  He gave us absolutely everything and we bring Him the left overs.  We ought to be ashamed of our meager offerings to the Lord especially in light of a passage like this one which calls our offerings sacrificial in nature.  As a side note, I am not necessarily referencing financial givings to the Lord at this point, though that can be a part of our sacrificial offering to the Lord.  I am referencing our everything—time, money, talents, possessions, relationships, etc.  We will look more fully into this tomorrow.  Until then, sacrificially give your praise to the Lord.

Questions:

1.  Would you classify your worship as being sacrificial in nature?

2.  Specifically, what is your worship costing you?

Prayer: Father, forgive me for my spiritual immaturity.  I fail to consider all that You have done for me and as a result, I bring You the left overs of my worship all too often.  I am sorry Lord, and pray You will draw me closer to You.  Amen.