New Testament verses, such as 1 Peter 2:5, call us to worship as priests, "you . . . are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." We are called, like the priests of Israel, to give sacrifices to God.

First, as priests, we are to give God our bodies.We are urged by Paul to "offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship." If you are a believer and you were to look in a mirror at this moment, you would see the tabernacle of God. Would you see something holy and pleasing?

There are many things which can cause us to fall short of being that ‘holy and pleasing’ sacrifice. Hearts not fully surrendered to God, unconfessed sin, wrong attitudes, physical tiredness and neglect are all examples. God forgives us of any and all shortcomings in our lives, but he also expects us to act on the prompting of the Holy Spirit to clear the temple and keep it in good repair.

Second, we are to bring God our praise. By whatever means we are physically able we are to praise God. Psalms tells us to "shout with joy," and to "Sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation." The New Testament tells us to "continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name," (Heb. 13:15). When we offer whole-hearted gratitude to God as a sacrifice, not fearing what others may think, then our worship becomes truly self-giving.

We can only enter into His presence through praise. "Enter his courts with thanksgiving and his courts with praise." Just as there was a gate into the tabernacle, there is a gate into the worship experience and that gate is thanksgiving. The worship experience that first begins with thanksgiving and praise will be blessed by the very presence of God.

Have you cleared the temple today? Are you preparing to offer thanksgiving and praise to God for every situation you find yourself in today? Do these two things with me today as we begin to learn about the "sacrifice of worship." Tomorrow we will talk about intercession and offerings as forms of worship.