Put Your Heart into It – Part 1
I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. Psalms 34:1
If you shout your lungs out at a ball game on Saturday, but sit silent and subdued when it’s time to worship God on Sunday, maybe you’re more excited about sports than spiritual matters. Ouch! A great definition of worship is ‘worth-ship’. What worth do you place on God and on your relationship with Him? You say, ‘But sometimes I don’t feel like praising God.’ Feelings have little to do with it! A good relationship isn’t based on emotion but on commitment. The Bible says, ‘…Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name’ (Hebrews 13:15). Note the words ‘continually’ and ‘sacrifice’. With God, the praise that costs is the praise that counts! Imagine someone with a good job, a good family and good health praising the Lord in church. Now imagine somebody living alone, shut in by sickness, who raises his or her feeble arms and lifts their voice in praise. Which one do you think gets the highest marks? The Psalmist said, ‘From the rising of the sun unto its going down, the Lord’s name is to be praised’ (Psalms 113:3). This Psalmist scheduled praise breaks throughout his day: ‘Seven times a day I praise Thee’ (Psalms 119:164). We have coffee breaks; he had praise breaks! If you want to change your environment and your attitude, start praising God throughout the day. Not only will you bless the Lord, He will bless you in a hundred and one different ways. Don’t take anybody else’s word for it—try it and see!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me take time every day – throughout the day – to give praise to You for what You are doing every day, every hour. In Jesus’ Name, Amen