How often do you give God the credit? Have you sung Jesus’ praises outside of Sunday morning worship? Do you praise Him when you are not around other Christians? Are you willing to proclaim His mighty deeds, His resurrection, and the blessings you have received?
Praising Jesus may be difficult for us. Our politically correct society tells us not to offend anyone by speaking His name. Of course, Peter and John were ordered by the Jewish leadership not to speak Jesus’ name anymore in Acts 4:17-18. They refused to obey them.
The disciples who were singing Jesus’ praises as He was approaching Jerusalem and entering through its gates were bold. They knew the Jewish leadership was seeking to kill Jesus. They also knew that calling anyone king other than Caesar would bring punishment from the Roman authorities. They sang His praises anyway.
We live in a culture that may not have laws against our praise of Jesus nor against calling Him King. Yet, there are laws that require we not show prejudice toward any one group. Additionally, there are lawyers who will argue any promotion of Jesus is offensive and prejudiced toward other religions. Will we bow to the pressure?
We have a choice to make. We can bow to cultural pressures, or we can bow to the living God. We can restrain our voices of praise in fear of retribution, or we can stand on the cornerstone of Jesus. We must understand that fully following Jesus is countercultural.
I pray we all choose to praise Jesus. I pray we stand with courage on the chief cornerstone. I pray each one of us will be as countercultural as Jesus was and still is today. Choose to praise Jesus. Stand on the chief cornerstone. Be countercultural. Be like Jesus.
Luke 19:37 Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,
Marty Pressey 