‘These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts (besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.’
Numbers 29:39 sums up all the feasts, sacrifices and offerings that God has commanded Moses to tell His people Israel. These commandments were given not to a people who has no relationship with God. God has established an eternal, timeless Covenant with Israel, that “they shall be His people and He shall be their God”. It is within the context of this Covenantal relationship that God commanded sacrifice and worship.
The Lord still relates to us in like manner today. He does not demand those who do not yet know Him to make sacrifices or worship Him. He is more interested to draw people to first know Him. First, to experience His goodness and grace, to know His love. He wants to draw man’s attention on His grace, mercy, power, love, and all that He is. He wants us to be in an everlasting Covenant with Him, established through the Blood of Jesus. So that, when we bring our sacrifices of praise, our worship and our offerings to Him, it is done out of gratitude for what He has done and out of our love for Him. These sacrifices and offerings have nothing to do with obtaining our salvation or gaining favour from Him.
When God commanded to make a sacrifice of praise, bring an offering to Him, rest assured that at least these 2 things are true: First, He consider us His own! For He will not command sacrifice and offerings given to Him from those outside His Covenant. Second, He will not ask us to sacrifice something that we do not have. When the Lord ask you to make an offering or sacrifice, it must mean that you already have it with you. When He asks you to give, He would have first given you. It must be that you can (having the ability to do so). The question is whether you will (the choice to let go, and trust in Him and in His faithfulness). Sacrifice and offerings must be made willingly, not under compulsion.
Thank and praise the Lord, when He commanded us to bring a sacrifice of praise to Him, He has also given us the ability to sacrifice!