Written by Scott B. Hayashi
Psalm 50:14 (NRSV) Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and make good your vows to the Most High.
When a pastor became gravely ill and was admitted to the hospital for surgery, a couple stayed with his spouse throughout days of waiting. I called at the hospital and thanked the couple for being such good friends to the pastor’s wife. One of them said to me, “When I was ill, the pastor stayed with me.” The way that this couple gave thanks to their pastor was by caring for his beloved wife.
There is no single thing a person can give to God that God does not already own. Thus the offering of animals for sacrifice had no meaning to God. Instead the psalmist proclaims that what God wants is our thanks.
How do we give thanks to God? By caring for that which God loves. God loves human beings. God made us in his image. Caring for people, especially the “least of these,” is a fitting sacrifice of thanks to God.
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