Offerings

Leviticus 1:1-3 “The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect . . . .’”

I started Leviticus this morning, and was reminded of my belief that if it wasn’t for reading plans no one would read Leviticus.

That’s because the first chapters of Leviticus are all about things we don’t do anymore. There is so much detail about offerings for sin, and fellowship, and thanks, and all kind of things. And there are so many rules. Why am I reading about a requirement that I no longer have to fulfill?
I remind myself that these words have value for me or they wouldn’t be in the Bible. And I realize, as I think it over, that there are a couple of key points here.

The first one is this: before Jesus, it was really, really hard to get right with God. God put in place a system that would let people try to atone for their sins, and live in a good relationship with him, but it had to be repeated over and over. The blood of animals and the burning of grain just couldn’t take the place of the human death called for by God’s justice. So the Israelites were faced with this chore over and over again all their lives.

That makes me all the more grateful that Jesus’ sacrifice did what all those animals couldn’t. I’m right with God, and it didn’t cost me a drop of my own blood.

The second point is that God’s expectations for anything dedicated to him are very high. Offerings were made holy – meaning set aside for God’s purposes – only when they were brought to him in very specific ways. These steps were a reminder that pleasing God requires diligence and attention to his wishes, and also that God deserves our very best. All of that is still true.

Do I sometimes cheapen grace by taking Jesus’ death for granted? I’m embarrassed to say I think I do.

Do I sometimes try to get by with giving God less than my best, or with not fully dedicating my offerings of money and time to him? I think I do this too.

Since those things are true, it’s good that I read Leviticus. I think it takes several pages of detailed description to drill into my thick skull what it is that I owe God.