ApprehendingGrace.com

⁶So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. ⁷He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. ⁸He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:6-8 (NLT)

⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:6-8 (NIV)

Can there be any other response to being blessed and chosen? We praise God! When our focus is on the spiritual blessings He has given us, on our status as adopted children of God, and on the God who bestows those blessings and makes the adoption possible, praising comes much more easily than when our focus is on bills and work challenges and health issues and relationship struggles. “So we praise God for the wonderful kindness He has poured out on us” – “to the praise of His glorious grace!”

To God be the glory, great things He has done.
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son.
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin
And opened the life gate that all may go in!
“To God be the Glory” written by Fanny Crosby

God’s Son gave His life so that we might be forgiven – no more guilt and shame – instead, “He has showered His kindness on us” and “lavished” His grace upon us. Oh, and He threw in “all wisdom and understanding” as well. What a God!

As I’ve thought about this passage, what I noticed is that Paul’s praise is so specific. He’s not just saying “Praise the Lord!” He’s saying “Praise the Lord because…” or “Praise the Lord for…” I find that I sometimes get lazy in my praise and default to “Praise the Lord!” He is so much more honored when I am specific. I’m not saying it’s wrong to simply praise Him – it’s what the shout “Hallelujah!” does. But I am saying that it’s important to add times when we praise Him specifically.

Sometimes my husband will look at me and say “I love you!” That’s a really good thing. But when he says “I love the way you smile at me” or “I love you for making our house ‘home’” or “I love you for being such a hard worker to build our company” – that’s even more special – not because I am earning his love, but because it says that he actually notices the things I do and he appreciates them.

It’s important to praise God in such a way that He knows we actually notice what He’s done and we appreciate it. If we never do this, our praise quickly becomes hollow – words with no depth to them.

What has God been doing in your life that has gone unnoticed? What has He lavished upon you that has gone without praise? Praise Him!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 24th, 2010 at 10:42 am and is filed under Christian Living, Reading through the Bible in a Year, thanksgiving, worship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.