“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. “–Heb. 13:15

Speaking in reference to the importance of worship Pastor Greg Laurie writes: I came to faith because of worshiping Christians. No one invited me to their meeting. No one broke down the gospel for me and said, “Here is how to come to Jesus Christ. . . .” But I saw a group of Christians sitting on the front lawn of my high school campus, singing songs to Jesus. I watched them and thought, “They have something I don’t have,” and it opened my heart to listen to the message that was presented.

There is a direct connection between our worship and our witness. Acts 2 says of the early church, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (verses 46–47).

We are being watched by the world. And they marvel when a Christian can praise God when he or she is going through a hardship. It’s a powerful testimony. But sometimes they come in and joins us in the pew. They sit next to us. The question is what kind of worshiper are you? What kind of witness are you?

You may say, “Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Actually it does. They are checking things out. Maybe they have never been to church before. They are sitting next to you, and while the worship is going on, you’re preoccupied. You’re chatting with a friend or daydreaming or texting. Pay attention and engage, because they are watching you. Praise and worship can be a sacrifice because sometimes we don’t feel like worshiping. But our worship is a witness. Let’s be good witnesses. Let’s make sure our hearts are in the right place. (Scriptures revised to KJV– HDS)

None of us will receive the same kind of revelation or mission from God that Abraham did, but He has a plan for each of us. We don’t know all the details as to the future, but we can know that God will never lead us astray and that our faithfulness will be rewarded. What we leave behind should not be a matter of concern when we know something better lies ahead. We don’t need to know where we’re going as long as we are going with the Lord. For the child of God in the will of God, the future always looks bright if we look far enough ahead.–HDS

It was Solomon who warned us that it is “the little foxes that spoil the vines“( SS 2:15) yet most people ignore his warning. They suppose as long as there is not a total moral collapse that all is well. But they put themselves in grave danger by ignoring the little things in life.

J. R. Miller explained it well in his comments on our text. He said—“It is sad to see how some holy and noble characters are marred by little–yet grievous, faults and blemishes! One man is generous–but he desires always to have his charity praised. Another is disposed to be kind and helpful–but by his manner, he hurts or humiliates the one he befriends. Another is unselfish and devout–but is careless of promises and engagements. He makes appointments, and never thinks of them again. He borrows money, and does not repay it. His friends say, “He is so forgetful!” Yes; but how his forgetfulness mars his character and hurts his influence! Forgetfulness is worse than an acceptable weakness; it is a sin! Untruthfulness is a blot in all eyes. Whenever SELF leaks out in conduct or disposition–it is a dead fly in the perfume It makes little difference, that a person is not intentionally at fault in the things which so mar his life. Carelessness and thoughtlessness are themselves such serious moral blemishes–that they make impossible, any excuse for delinquencies resulting from them. We need to look to “the littles” which either make or mar godly character. No fault is too small to be worth curing, and no fragment of beauty is too small to be worth setting in the mosaic of character.”

I hope you see the importance of this. To become the person God wants you to be, not only must we know of God’s work for us, we must also understand God’s work in us. The Holy Spirit is working to make us holy, and that enables us to be happy –regardless of the happenings. Then we can “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;( Phil. 2:14-15) –HDS