{"id":217,"date":"2014-09-12T16:50:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T20:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/?p=217"},"modified":"2014-11-10T21:39:07","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T01:39:07","slug":"praise-be-to-god-a-call-to-be-thankful-appreciative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/?p=217","title":{"rendered":"Praise be to God: A Call to be Thankful (Appreciative)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14 (text at bottom of post)<\/p>\n

Psalmists in the Old Testament remind us to praise God and not to forget His grace. Most of us are familiar with what David says in Psalm 103:2, “Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” David then proceeds to list the benefits that he has received from God: forgiveness of sins, healing of diseases, deliverance from threats, crown of love and compassion, and so on.<\/p>\n

In Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul is basically doing the same thing, except that he is talking about spiritual blessing.<\/p>\n

Both the psalmists and Paul set good examples of praising God: thankfulness is an inner attitude, but it is also accompanied with recalling of God’s grace and actual thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

We have mentioned that Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence. While the main clause of the sentence is “praise be to God,” a little study of the sentence reveals its fuller structure as “praise be to God\u00a0who\u00a0has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.”1<\/a><\/sup> The rest of the sentence describes what the blessing consists of.<\/p>\n

In other words, Paul is saying, “let us praise God, for he has blessed us with all these blessings!” Or, “since God has blessed us with all these blessings, he is worthy of our praises!”<\/p>\n

This urging of lifting praises out of appreciation\u00a0of the spiritual blessing (which in the context means our salvation) can be seen even clearer if we recognize a play on the word “bless.” The phrase that most translations have as \u00a0“praise be to God” can also be translated as “blessed is (be to) God.”2<\/a><\/sup> This “blessed” in the description of “blessed is God” comes from the same verb as the other “blessed” and the “blessing” in the sentence. Here is the sentence if we translate it directly:<\/p>\n

Blessed<\/span> (eulogetos<\/span>) is God… who has blessed<\/span> (eulogesas<\/span>) us with every spiritual blessing<\/span> (eulogia<\/span>). 3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Here we see a person, truly understanding God’s blessing in his life, responds in turn with blessing God (“blessing” means praising when it is used toward\u00a0God). Paul\u00a0is not taking God’s grace for granted. He knows it, apprehends it, appreciates it, and he praises God who has given\u00a0him the blessing.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we fall short in giving praises to God. This is especially true if we have being saved for a long time. We know we should praise God, but somehow we seem to have lost the passion. We might\u00a0not be deliberately taking God’s grace for granted, but somehow his blessing has become “common.”<\/p>\n

About 10 years after Paul brought the gospel to Ephesus, he\u00a0wrote to the church and nearby churches. From a prison, he\u00a0reminded them to remember God’s grace and praise God for the blessing they have received.<\/p>\n

May we all be reminded to do the same!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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A summary up to this point:<\/p>\n