Fruit from Thorns

Let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. —Hebrews 13:15

Fruit takes a while to grow. So, the sacrifice of acknowledging God isn’t a quick afterthought— like an arrogant athlete jabbing a finger toward heaven after scoring. No, this sort of fruit is cultivated over a whole season of saying day after day, “I am not strong; I am so weak. I need You, Lord.”

We each begin life saying, “I need nothing. I deserve everything.” But God wants to trans- form us into people who say, “I need You, Jesus. I surrender to You.” So, He uses thorns—the kind that create physical pain and the sort that create emotional and spiritual turmoil as well. These thorns draw us into a correct posture before God—on our knees.

Thankfulness is appreciating even the things you’d rather not have in your life. Should we thank God for all things—including thorns? I’ll leave you to decide. But first consider: What would you be like if your life was thorn-free? Would your lips be acknowledging God or yourself?

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 “Thanks for Everything” (ReviveOurHearts.com/blog)

Scripture taken from The CSB