March 22

In Psalm 50:23, the Lord says something beautiful in all its aspects, “He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors Me; and he who orders his life aright, to him will I demonstrate the salvation of God.” Think about those words for a minute, no, ponder them a lifetime, for they are indeed words of life.

What is an offering? In a nutshell, it is something given. God who owns everything wants something from us! That is a remarkable concept! There is nothing that exists that is not His and He dispenses it as He will, but one thing He cannot have unless we give it to Him is our praise and thanks.

If we credit ourselves with what we have, with what we achieve; if we think we are saved because we are worthy by virtue of our own goodness, we are unlikely to praise or thank God. But if we are like the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with fine perfume mingled with her tears—from a grateful heart that recognizes its own unworthiness of His great gift—we will, like her, lavish Him with thanks for WHO HE IS and WHAT HE’S DONE FOR US.

Beyond the blessing we are to ourselves when we order our lives aright as His Word admonishes that we do, when we accord Him the honor due His holy name, He promises something else that we cannot begin to achieve apart from Him. He says He will then demonstrate the salvation of God! He will use those who honor Him, who praise Him, who live their lives in accordance with His will to show His salvation to others! And that is life’s most worthy aim.