Leviticus 1-4

Having never really done a deep dive or thought intentionally about the symbolic and ritual context for the book of Leviticus as a western Christian I am excited for all that God will reveal to me through this book. Right off the bat there are interesting things the LORD is showing me in each chapter, for the sake of time I'll dive into chapter 3.

Leviticus 3:16 (NIV) "The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD's."

Initially my human thoughts jump to trimming beef ribeye for steak night dinners, digging deeper into the etymology I crossed over to BibleHub and pulled up the Hebrew translation of this verse. Heleb is the Hebrew word for fat which translates to richest or choice part - this is interesting to me because I remember an old YouTube chef cooking show who would reiterate that fat is where the flavor is. In context with the passage the declaration is that all the fat is the LORD's, there is no exception to this. The way I understand a practical application for this today is offering to the LORD your best talent, treasure and time. This further expounds on the firstfruits concept from Leviticus 2:12 and even further back in Genesis 4 with Cain and Able's offerings.

Am I willing to sacrifice my best, the richest and choicest of my time, talent and treasure, for the glory of God, for the sake of pleasing my Creator? Proper offerings yield up a pleasing aroma to the LORD which is how we are to live our lives which is consistent with Christian living as outlined in chapter 4 of Paul's first letter to the church in Thessalonica.

I Thessalonians 4:1 (NIV) "As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord to do this more and more."

O LORD may my life be a pleasing and living sacrifice to you as I choose to live contra mundum, against the world, in a counter culture way that seeks first the kingdom of God through purity and holiness, by your grace, through living with conviction and consistency according to your word by the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God and the good of man. I desire to do your will, my God, generously giving you my richest and choicest time talent and treasure. May your word dictate the way I live. Amen


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