11/25/2008

Sacrificially Thankful

My reading in the Psalms today was Psalm 116. The seventeenth verse reads: "I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord" (NLT). The phrase sacrifice of thanksgiving stuck out at me today. Much like the "sacrifice of praise" mentioned in Hebrews 13:15, I'm not sure what it means. Obviously, the Bible wasn't refering to our American (or Canadian) holiday Thanksgiving.

In the Law that God gave to the Israelites, they were make specific offerings of thanksgiving (a type of peace or fellowship offering) in which they sacrificed an animal and some bread. And of course, we're not bound to the Law under Christ. But I wonder what it means for me. Is there something I sacrifice in giving God thanks? There are times, I believe, when it is fitting of us to give an extra offering when we receive an extra blessing (pay raise, inheritance, bonus, etc.). I wonder, though, in the season of Thanksgiving what it might mean to be sacrificiallly thankful. Maybe it just means sacrificing some time to reflect on what God has done for and given us--something more deliberate going beyond the prayer around the dinner table. Maybe it's as simple as that.

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