Flippant Praise

Today's Reading: Psalm 100, Hosea 13:4-6; & Hebrews 5

Scripture:

"Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with singing." Psalm 100:1-2

Observation:

There is more to praising God than just going through the motions. The attitude of the Psalmist in Psalm 100 does not reflect someone who is just going through the motions. It reflects the attitude of a man who's heart is overflowing from his relationship with God. It reflects the life of a man who guarded against losing his praise.

Application:

Guarding against losing my praise. That is the conviction I feel this morning and I see this morning three things that can help me with that. First, I have to guard against complacency. Hosea 13:4-6 paints a picture of this. My praise will never be fully alive to God unless I am living on the edge of my faith. If I allow myself to become satisfied with where I am; my praise will become fake.

Second, I must not lose focus during trials. Ok, suffering really bites. I am not particularly found of it at all. Relationship struggles, untimely deaths, financial pressures, struggles with kids, job uncertainty, and general failures of all kinds can be tormenting. Hebrews 5:8 is a great reminder that my best learning, growing, and changing occurs on the backside of a trial. I must hang on and not allow my heart to be stolen.

Third, I must not dull my hearing. There have been many times in my life that I felt like God was not speaking to me. Truth is my heart can get so far removed from His heart that my ability to hear God becomes dull. Hebrews 5:11-14 serves up a great challenge for me to keep my heart alive and connect with God through growth in discipleship. God places the right people in my life at the right time to speak to me, but my ability to hear them is determined by my willingness to be discipled.

Prayer:

Forgive me for being so flippant in my praise to You. I do not always guard it and it can be taken away from me so very quickly. I become complacent and lose my praise to laziness. I lose heart in trials and give my praise away to bitterness. I dull my ears from hearing truth and sacrifice my praise to my stubbornness.

You alone are Father. You alone are good. You alone are the God who lives, breathes and moves. You designed me with a purpose and walking in that purpose is the only place where I find joy. There is none like You. My heart is complete in You. The only times in my life I regret are the times that I lived outside of Your desires for me. All that I am is Yours today.