What it Means to Offer a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving to God

The following excerpts from With Thanksgiving teach on what it means to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.

There are times when thanksgiving is easy. When God answers a prayer, provides miraculously, or pours out a blessing, it is natural to give thanks. (Although let’s not forget that even in these types of circumstances, many can still neglect to express thanksgiving to God.) But what about when things are not going well? What about in times of challenge or trial? What about when we walk through tragedy, disappointment, or grief? What about when finances are sparse or relationships are falling apart?

In times of difficulty or sorrow, thanksgiving is not a natural response. But when we still choose to give thanks during situations like these, it becomes a fragrant offering to the Lord.

The Thank Offering

When God established Israel as His people, He gave them various laws and statutes to live by as a community, and He also gave them regulations and ceremonies for how to serve Him and relate to Him. Included in the law were several types of offerings. Some of these sacrifices were given in order to atone for sin, while others were acts of devotion to the Lord. Among the types of offerings was one called a thank offering.

Leviticus 7 has instructions on different types of offerings. Offerings for thanksgiving fall into the broader category of peace offerings, as seen below.

This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the Lord: If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil. Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering. And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning. (Leviticus 7:11-15, emphasis added)

It is not the specific details and protocols for this offering that I want to draw your attention to but the fact that there was an offering for giving thanks to God. And this required a sacrifice.

While we are not under the rituals and ceremonies of the Old Covenant, there is a clear application for us as believers. We are to engage in giving offerings of thanksgiving to God, not with cakes, wafers, bulls, or goats, but with the fruit of our lips.

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15)

 A sacrifice of praise and an offering of thanksgiving is when we thank and praise God when it is not easy or natural to do so. It is when we offer Him thanks in the midst of pain and confusion, grief and sorrow. This is costly. But that is the nature of a sacrifice—it costs something. Only in this lifetime will we have the ability to offer up sacrifices of thanksgiving. In heaven, we will praise and thank God but not in the midst of trial and pain. Only on earth will we have the opportunity to give costly worship and thanksgiving to the Lord in this way.

Count it All Joy

God has been teaching me that our circumstances don’t dictate whether we give Him thanks or praise. That’s why Paul tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, emphasis added). That’s why James says to “count it all joy” when we experience various types of trials (see James 1:2).

Rejoicing during difficulties, considering it a joy to go through a trial, and giving thanks in the midst of adverse circumstances is certainly not easy (at least not for me!). Our natural response is to complain, wallow, and sink into discouragement. But what if, by the grace of God, we could learn a different way? What if we learned not to waste our trials? What if we turned them into sacrifices of praise and offerings of thanksgiving to the Lord?

Perhaps the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving will be the very key to seeing deliverance and breakthrough in our situation, like when Jonah was delivered from the great fish or when Paul and Silas were released from prison (see Jonah 2:9-10 and Acts 16:25-27). But even if the situation doesn’t change, something inside of us will. We will be more conformed into the image of Christ, and His character will be more formed in us. We will be demonstrating that God is always worthy of our praise and thanksgiving, giving Him the glory that is due Him and fulfilling His will.

In saying these things, I am not suggesting that we are to give thanks for all circumstances but in all circumstances. You don’t need to thank God for a tragedy or loss, but you can still find a reason to give Him thanks in the midst of such a situation. And when you do, it is a fragrant offering to the Lord amid your pain. It’s not easy. It’s not natural. But when you choose to offer thanksgiving during difficulties and trials, you are positioning yourself to be transformed and are releasing beautiful sacrifices to God. He is worthy!

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The topic of thanksgiving can be found woven throughout the pages of Scripture, but we have often not seen its true value and significance in the life of a believer. With Thanksgiving is all about the transforming power of giving thanks. It is a short but powerful study on the topic of thanksgiving.