Hi, I'm Pastor Jason VanBemel from Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, and this is Walking with Jesus, a devotional journey through books of the Bible, and we are in the book of Hebrews. Nearing the end, this is day 55, and we are in Hebrews chapter 13, verses 15 and 16, asking this question, what sacrifices please God? Hebrews 13, 15 and 16. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. That's Hebrews 13, 15 and 16 in the English Standard Version. Well my wife's birthday is on December 12th and yes that's less than two weeks before Christmas. We've been married for 20 years and for many of those 20 years I have had a difficult time coming up with a good birthday present idea and then turning around and coming up with something good for Christmas just a few days later. My wife's not picky, she's not hard to please, but sometimes I'm just lacking in the creativity to come up with something original and interesting twice in such a short period of time. I think the worst birthday present I ever got her was probably David Brainerd's journal, edited by Jonathan Edwards, accompanied by John Piper's lecture on the life of Brainerd. Now, she was gracious, but I have to admit, I was being selfish with that one. I had heard Piper's lecture and was interested in Brainerd and wanted to read his journal, and so I gave it to her for her birthday. I still haven't read it. I think I feel too guilty every time I pick it up and start to read. Now, many Christians over the centuries have thought they needed to do something creative for God, to show Him how much they love Him, or to somehow get Him to smile on their lives and bless them. One extreme example from the Middle Ages is the flagellants, men who would whip themselves, leaving their backs bleeding and scarred in a mixture of repentance and devotion to God. Another perhaps equally extreme example were the Crusades, in which men would go and kill and be killed in the name of Jesus. But what about the grand Gothic cathedrals of the late Middle Ages? That's maybe another example. Kings and bishops built these large cathedrals at extreme cost to themselves and their people, many of whom were starving, so that they could lead a lasting legacy to God. Now think about Martin Luther when he went to Rome as a young man, climbing the stone stairs on his knees, saying the Lord's prayer with every step climbed. Was God pleased with all these sacrifices? No. Unless we look down our noses at the Middle Ages, the modern evangelical world is full of people who make offerings to the Lord that the Lord never commanded or encouraged. And it's an old problem. More than 3,000 years ago, God commanded King Saul to wipe out the Amalekites and to leave nothing alive. But Saul let the people keep the best livestock alive as an offering to the Lord. And so God told Saul through the prophet Samuel, has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15, 22. So God is obviously not pleased with just any sacrifice, especially with sacrifices that involve disobedience to His word. But what sacrifices do please God? Hebrews 13, 15 and 16 tells us very clearly. Now Hebrews has already established the foundation truth that no sacrifice we offer atones for our sins. Christ has already paid the once for all sacrifice for all our sins. We can add nothing to his offering for sin. What we can offer is a sacrifice of thanksgiving in two ways, by praising God and by doing good to others. In response to Christ's perfect salvation, we are to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. We don't just praise God on Sunday mornings, but all throughout the week. We're also to do good and to share with people who are in need. We are told that God is pleased with these sacrifices. Now these may not seem sacrificial enough for some people. They may want to do more for Jesus. These may not seem grand or life-changing or earth-shattering, but they actually are. If God's people were to consciously praise Him and acknowledge His name at all times, and if we were to really give and share with others, these sacrifices would change us deeply, and they would speak loudly and clearly to a world that desperately needs to see more of Jesus in His people.