“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” ( Hebrews 13:15-16 )

I remember a time when at the beginning of our Sunday service the congregation members were invited to stand and share a testimony from the week. We took five minutes each Sunday to do this and it was always encouraging. Everyone always shared praise reports of what the Lord had been doing in their lives that week. When you see Him working in each and every detail and moment of life then it is impossible not to praise Him.

As this letter to the Hebrews winds down we are reminded to continually offer God sacrifices of praise. One of the offerings the Israelites brought to the Lord was the fellowship offering also known as the peace offering ( Leviticus 7:11-21 ). The fellowship offering was an expression of thankfulness, it came from a grateful heart. The person, would bring the offering to the Lord as a token of gratitude. Which is why the writer ties our praise back to this offering and reminds us that we are to continually offer this type of sacrifice. However, our offering comes in word form, from lips and hearts that praise and confess His name.

Isaiah prophesied, “Peace, peace, to him who is far off [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near! says the Lord; I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise]” ( Isaiah 57:19 Amp ). Isaiah foretold of this very idea; once you have been healed, restored and redeemed by Jesus, then the words you speak will be laced with thanksgiving and bless the Lord.

This type of praise offering comes naturally when we realize the wonderful things God has done for us. As in the example from our church service, we always had people willing to share and praise the Lord. It brought both encouragement and reminded others of what He had done for them as well. The result in return was that others were willing to go out, share and help others in need when the opportunity arose. Which in return also brought glory to God and pleased him.

Praising the Lord should be at the forefront of our hearts and minds. We should continually make an effort to praise Him being thankful for the ways in which He works. The way to bless the Lord is by praising Him.

“The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” ( Hebrews 13:11-14 )

Jesus was the lamb of God’s appointment ( I Peter 1:19-20, Revelation 13:8 ). He was sent as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the entire world ( I John 2:2 ). He came to His own people, His own kind and was rejected and despised by them ( John 1:11, Acts 4:11, I Peter 2:6-8 ). However, His blood was given just the same. It was given to make peace and bring us back into fellowship with God.

While all of this was taking place in the heavenly realm ( Hebrews 9:11-12 ), Jesus’ body was carried outside of the Levitical sacrificial system, taken to calvary and crucified; fulfilling scripture saying that it must be done this way ( Leviticus 16:27 ). He bore the shame and disgrace reserved for criminals, murderers and thieves.

This shows that Jesus was the true fulfillment of everything the sacrificial system pointed to ( Hebrews 10:1-5 ). Because of this, we should constantly consider Jesus, and disregard anything that keeps us from Him ( Hebrews 3:1, 12:2 ). Just as He did, we should go outside of the norm, willing to accept abuse, shame and ridicule by others because of our associating with Jesus. Why? Because this is not our home, we are looking forward to a city and a permanent home that is to come. 

The previous verses give instruction on how to stay steadfast, “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat” ( Hebrews 13:9-10 ). 

Through His grace we have received so much more that those who serve according to the illustration of Christ and not the real thing. So, if we continue, steadfast and strengthened in grace, reminding ourselves over and over what Jesus did for us. Then we will not be carried away by other things. This grace will also produce a passion and desire for us to follow wholeheartedly after Christ Jesus even in the midst of persecution and disgrace.