Offerings

Read Leviticus 1

After finishing reading through Genesis and Exodus I find myself at the beginning of Leviticus. While certainly not one of the longest books in the Bible it is definitely one that doesn't get much positive press. Partly because we don't understand the culture within the context, but I think mostly because we aren't really sure how to relate it to our lives today. So with this in mind I want to maybe pique your interest in giving it a go, encouraging you to read through Leviticus one chapter a day and see what God reveals. If nothing else, you can finish and be one of the few who can actually claim they've read through this book which is completely devoted to the worship of the redeemed people of God and expresses the repeated command of God throughout the book "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy." (11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7,26).

Leviticus 1 begins with a conversation between God and Moses and it's all about when the people of Israel are bringing an offering to God, how they're supposed to worship. Now when we come to worship God how do we come? Do we come prepared to truly let God know how much He's worth to us, or do we come distracted or perhaps unfocused? You see when we come before a holy God (this concept is prevalent all throughout Leviticus - that our God is a Holy God) we should come prepared to present our very best to God. This is one of the reasons why the offerings spoken about in Leviticus 1-7 indicate that their offerings were to be "without defect." God always wants our very best. The question is - do we offer him our best or less than our best?

And once we honestly evaluate our personal answer to this question, if and when we answer that we've presented God with less than our best what should we do? The Bible is clearly a book about our need to repent, to do a U-turn when our actions and attitudes do not align with God's. But I believe it should go at least one step further or we'll continue taking the wrong turns in our lives. Once we've repented, I believe we need to check what got us off course in the first place. This takes time, contemplation and possibly even help from another who might be able to show us where and why we're getting lost from following God's path.

I can't and I won't presume to tell you what's getting you off the path God wants you on, because I think it's different for everyone of us. But when we take the time to think about the choices we make that affect our actions and attitudes I think God will begin opening our eyes so we'll see more clearly the next time we come upon an intersection where we might make a wrong turn. You see God wants our very best, so let's give Him just that with a little help from the Holy Spirit that lives within every follower of Jesus Christ. And for that we all should be greatly humbled and thankful, that God didn't leave us alone but gave us the third person of the trinity to guide us with every step we take.