No Sacrifice, No Glory! - Worship That Pleases God

No Sacrifice, No Glory! The children of the world know this and operate this principle more than the children of the Kingdom. Countless times when actors, athletes and musicians are asked to share their secrets to success, they always detail some level of sacrifice. Whether it was sacrificing sleep, relationships, foods and comforts, they did the whatever was necessary to attain success. Unfortunately, the children of the Kingdom either aren’t privy to this law of sacrifice or, we aren’t being taught how to sacrifice for God.

The sacrifice of our praise and thanksgiving is what we most commonly think of when we consider sacrifices acceptable unto God. Yes, a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving can often be hard to lift up to our King when we’re in the midst of trouble, facing severe affliction, or suffering terribly. There have been many times that I have literally had to command my mouth to open and speak the praises of my heart due unto my King. However, in this blog, I am speaking about a sacrifice that goes deeper than the praise and thanksgiving. I’m talking about a sacrifice that can’t be valued. A sacrifice that is painful. A sacrifice that costs.

We must come to the King with an acceptable offering and sacrifice in hand. Yes, Jesus was a sacrifice, but He was the sacrifice that permanently tore the veil and opened the Way for us to be able to access the King’s presence and bow at His feet! However, as part of the honor and reverence we have for His majesty, we must also come bearing presents of our own accord which we have to lay before His before we even open our mouths to begin praying for what we need!

We see an example of this with King Solomon. He was blessed by God to the be the wisest and most knowledgeable king that has ever existed (2Chronicles 1:11)! “Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire of came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and sacrifices; and they glory of the LORD filled the house”(2Chronicles 7:1). This scripture doesn’t state when Solomon presented his offering and sacrifices, but we see that after he ended his prayers, the Spirit of the Lord consumed the offering/sacrifices. Therefore, we must logically deduce that his sacrifices were left BEFORE he began to pray!

Later that night, the LORD appeared unto Solomon with an even greater message which we should all strive to hear God speak to us today! “And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice”(2Chronicles 7:12). “Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever: and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually”(2Chronicles 7:15-16). Wooo!!!! Thank you Jehovah!

You might be asking, why is this relevant to us today? Why should I be striving to hear God speak these words to me today? Because today, God has chosen to make us, His temples! Because today, God has chosen to make us His houses of worship, His houses of SACRIFICE. He promises to keep His eyes open to us, His ears also will be attent to the prayers we make in our hearts, upon our altars. (Attent, synonymous to attentive, and attentive being defined as “paying close attention to something” A few synonymous of “attentive” are perceptive, observant, vigilant, undistracted, committed, diligent). He promises that His name will be upon us forever! He promises that His heart will be PERPETUALLY with us! As a child of God, THESE are the assurances that I want to have as I walk through this life even more than I want platinum and gold! I want to know that God’s eyes and heart are upon me forever! And to know that He is vigilant, undistracted and diligent when it comes to me, and the prayers that I offer up for my family, friends and community! This is a blessing beyond measure!

When King Solomon set out to build God a house, he knew that he was undertaking a task that was beyond his worth to accomplish considering “the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him”(2Chronicles2:6). Selah. Pause and think about what King Solomon said and consider how this applies to our lives. Heaven and the heaven of heavens are too small for our BIG God! Yet and still, our BIG God has blessed us to become His houses, His temples! Whew! If that doesn’t knock you onto your knees to give Him praise and worship, then I command that the fallow ground of your heart be broken up now in the name of Jesus! But we who are Christians, who are pressing to go in deeper, must understand the awesome responsibility we have as His temples. And we should meditate upon these words of King Solomon until they bear fruit in our hearts, “who am I then, that I should build Him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him”(2Chronicles2:6).

I can’t counsel you on what you’re sacrifice to God should be. That is a personal conversation that you must have with God and Him alone. But I can tell you from personal experience, that for your sacrifice to be accepted by God, it must be costly. It can’t be easy, and please don’t tempt God by making it cheap!

Blessings!!!!

(All scripture quoted is from KJV)