Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”


The Good Cycle of Grateful LOve



Psalm 50:13-15, 22-23



13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

14“Sacrifice thank offerings to God,

fulfill your vows to the Most High,

15and call on me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”



22“Consider this, you who forget God,

or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

23Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,

and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”





Today's title is "Blessed Cycle of Gratitude"



What do you think is the most significant difference between Christianity and other religions? One of the biggest differences is that God of the bible first loved us. Other religions in general require people to show their love first for their gods to earn their favor. Unlike gods of many other religions, our God requires no sacrifices and services as a prerequisite to receiving His love. He just pours out His love upon those who are completely unqualified to receive any of His love. To love is the essential nature of God. That’s why the Bible says, “God is love (First John 4:8)”. Our God loves us spontaneously out of His divine nature, not because we did anything that deserves His love. So most of us experience God’s love while we were yet sinners. God’s love is unconditional. There is no strings attached to God’s love. 1 John 4:10 says “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”



But personal love by nature cannot be one-sided. True love is always mutual. God’s love, albeit it is unconditional, is highly personal and mutual. When God loves a person, He expects a personal response to His love. The response that God expects is neither sacrifices nor services. It is love toward God as motivated by gratitude. “We love because he first loved us”. That’s so natural. That’s so personal. That’s exactly what God says on today’s psalm. He says, “Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” The answer is “Of course not!”. All that God expects from those upon whom He poured out His love is thank offering, which is a grateful heart. We know how grateful king David was for God’s love. David wanted to build a temple as an expression of is gratitude for God. God didn’t allow David to do it. But God was greatly moved by David’s grateful heart. I believe that is part of the reason that the Messiah came as the son of David. If we are truly grateful for God’s love and express it toward God, we will also experience a similar cycle of love as we see in David. God initiates the cycle with unconditional love. We respond to it with grateful hearts. God responds with greater love. It can go on and on. I am sure there’s no more blessed life than that. How grateful are you to God? Are you living in the cycle of grateful love?