Our Best

March 3

Leviticus 21-22

Psalm 29:7-11

Proverbs 6:34-35

Mark 7:1-16

Our Best

“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel who brings near his offering……which they bring near to Yahweh for a burnt offering—for you to be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, sheep, or the goats. Whatever has a defect, you shall not bring it near, for it will not be accepted for you.”  Leviticus 22:18-19 LSB

We do not offer animals as sacrifices to God any longer.  Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection forever fulfilled the need for a sacrifice.  Jesus was the unblemished, sinless, perfect Lamb of God who offered Himself as a sacrifice once for all.  (I Peter 1:19, John 1:29, Isaiah 53:7)  This passage may not seem relevant for us, but there are principles that we can apply to our lives.  The instruction given to the Israelites to offer an unblemished animal from their flock foreshadowed the perfect Lamb, the Messiah, who would one day become the final sacrifice that would take away their sins.  But the instruction was also given to remind them that they should give God their best.  The temptation would be to give God the animals that were not good for working or for eating.  Instead of offering one of the best of their flock, they would give Him an animal that wasn’t good for anything else.  For a sacrifice to be a sacrifice it has to cost you something.  Giving something away that isn’t of any value to you is not a true sacrifice. 

            Romans 12:1 tells us, “Therefore I exhort you, brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  The sacrifice we give is ourselves.  We are to offer God the first and best of what we have of our time, our energy, our resources, our talents, our abilities, etc.  For our sacrifice to be a true sacrifice it has to cost us something.  We can’t give God our leftovers.  This applies to our financial offering to God.  The check we write to church should be the first check we write each month out of our income.  Too often we pay our bills and other expenses and then give Him whatever we think we can spare out of what is left.  I would challenge you to try giving God His part first.  He will provide for your other needs.  When we are faithful to Him, He is always faithful to us.  Ask Him to show you how much you should give, give that amount, and let Him take care of your other needs.  He won’t let you down. 

           This principle also applies to every other part of our lives as well. We should give Him the best of our efforts, our time, and our abilities. We expend all our energy on our other responsibilities and have very little left to offer Him in the way of service to Him and for others. How are you spending your time? Are you offering God your best? Are there any priorities you need to realign so that you are in a better position to offer your body as a living