Raised To Praise

The useful part

The water stretches out infinitely, and a cool breeze carries the scent of salt. At first, the child stands in quiet awe, listening to the steady, rhythmic crash of the waves against the shore. As the warmth of the sun begins to break through the morning fog, wonder takes over.

How it works

• Other times, it happens in the quiet, hidden places of a room where no one else is watching.
• The child throws back their head and laughs out loud, letting out a pure, uncontainable sound of joy simply because the beauty is too great to hold inside.
• Believers are a chosen generation, redeemed and set free for a specific purpose: to proclaim the praises of God.
• The very breath of life given to mankind is intimately connected to our capacity to worship our Creator.
• When the weight of our past is lifted, our response naturally overflows into adoration.

What to take from it

Psalm 63:3 reminds us, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." This is not a reluctant duty or a checklist item. Because His affection holds us securely, our worship does not depend on our current circumstances. It is the natural exhale of a soul that has tasted grace and realized that nothing this world offers can compare to the goodness of God.

Example or evidence

• Sometimes that praise is sung out loud in a crowded sanctuary surrounded by voices.

Details worth keeping

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9 Picture a small child standing at the edge of a great ocean for the very first time.