I have a confession. I have always found the book of
Leviticus rather, no other word for it, BORING and something to drudge
through as I read through the Bible. Let me say that as of today, my
views have changed. The more I study the Law and sacrifices, etc. the
more I come to appreciate God's wisdom in everything. It just proves
that in spirit we really are just children, because, not only do we want
to question everything, we want to show how irrelevant it is to us
today. We may not say it aloud, but we certainly exhibit it in our
attitude and actions.
Today I began Leviticus once again. I
have lost count as to how many times I have read the Bible through.
That is not to say I have read it through so many times I cannot count
them. I'm sure I could quite easily. I have simply truly lost count.
For reference sake I will say this is possibly the seventh time I have
done so. I know I have five, but am not certain how many times after
that, so seven seems reasonable. Anyway, I came across this passage in
the very first chapter: 1:6-7 says, "He shall then skin the burnt
offering and cut it into its pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest
shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire."There were the regularly scheduled times for the burnt offering. Burnt offerings were to be made every day, in the morning and the evening (Exod 29:38-42; Num. 28:3, 6, cf. 2 Chron. 2:4, etc.). An additional burnt offering was to be offered up each Sabbath day (Num. 28:9-10). Also, at the beginning of each month (Num. 28:11), at the celebration of Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month (Num. 28:16), along with new grain offering at Feast of Weeks (Num. 28:27), at the feast of trumpets, on sacred day in the 7th month (Num. 29:1ff.), and for the celebration of the new moon (Num. 29:6) (Bible.org)
There is a very vital reason this passage should speak directly to
each and every Christian daily...we are to offer our flesh as a daily
sacrifice, a soothing aroma (vs. 9) to God. Just
as the priests would kill the bull, sheep, ram, whatever and then skin
it before offering it on the fire as an offering, so we must remove our
flesh (its power over us was already killed when we accepted Jesus death
as our personal sacrifice). However, our flesh clings to us, begging
us to allow it to do its thing. After all, it only has a short time on
this earth. We only live once. Enjoy life while you can!! All these
things are lies that we accept as truth willingly. While we do only
have a short time on this earth, we have an eternity with our Father.
It will be better to be disciplined now and get it done and over with
than to wait until then!! Secondly, we do not ONLY live once. We live
once with this mortal, fleshly body, but then we shed it and receive an
immortal and perfected body to dwell in for eternity!! Therefore, it is
not ONLY once, but it is once, so make the VERY best of it now, but
learning how to live for Christ now so that it is much easier in the
real life to come!! As for the third comment, "Enjoy life while you
can," I have discovered that I enjoy life much more living for Christ
than when I am living for self. My flesh will tell me anything it
thinks I want to hear to get me to do its bidding. If I listen to it
enough, I will begin to agree (and it does happen, much to my chagrin)
and if I give in, I am miserable. Self pity, pride, greed, anger,
bitterness, and so much more, invade my being and make me absolutely
miserable, as I can never have enough of ANYTHING to satiate them.
However, when I am living for Christ, He does the work within me, it
never seems an unbearable burden and I have no need to be satiated for I
am no longer hungering for anything other than more of Him. This He
willingly and graciously gives, even though I do not deserve it!! Of
this I do not wish to be satiated. I pray I will always hunger for more
of Him.
After removing the skin (flesh) we must offer the
sacrifice to the fire of the Holy Spirit. He will burn it up in His
power and give us the strength we need in each and every situation, even
the ones that seem impossible!!
Yesterday I had both of
my two youngest grandsons with me in the back yard. Our back yard is
flat for about 20-30 feet and then goes abruptly down hill into woods.
The older of the two (5 years old) was playing on the Big Wheel trike
and I was holding the 4 month old. Suddenly, the Big Wheel rolled out
from under him and down the hill, into the woods. He looked at me with
huge eyes and said, "One of us will have to go get it!" I told him I
couldn't because I had the baby. He asked if I couldn't put him down
and go. After all, he was quite willing to go with me. (He thought that
since he was scared, I must be too.) I told him that, no, I would not
leave my baby grandson alone in order to get a bike. He resolutely said
that he guessed he had to go then. Now you need to know that the bike
was no more than 8-10 feet down max. However, there are a lot of
leaves, which makes it slippery. I showed him the hanging vines and how
to grasp them in order to make his way to the bike. Long story short,
he succeeded with a bit of difficulty. When finished, he looked at me
and said, "I just risked my life and I am proud of myself for doing
it!" A little later he looked at me questioningly and asked, "Gramma, I
really did just risk my life, didn't I?" While not wanting to lie, but
wanting to assure him he did a very good and manly thing, I said, "You
really did take a risk buddy!" About an hour later, his uncle came to
get the baby. He recanted his story of risking his life and added, "And
I got some thorns too, and I almost bled!" His uncle very solemnly
looked at him and told him he had been very brave. I was proud of them
both.
Once again I learned a lesson from a five year
old!! They are such good teachers!! Be willing to lay down your life
for the life of others, especially those weaker (baby) than yourself.
This is real living!! If you could have seen the joy in his eyes, you
would know exactly what I am talking about. I pray he remembers the joy
he experienced in this as he grows and even when he comes to the place
of realizing his life was not in any immediate danger (though there
could have been a snake, he could have slipped and bruised or broken
something or any number of other possibilities) that the joy of being
willing to sacrifice will carry him on to living for Christ by living to
serve others all throughout his life!!
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