A Costly Sacrifice!

Are you a good gift giver?

Leviticus 1:2-4 begins the teaching on the ancient sacrificial system:

When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.

The burnt offering was the costliest sacrifice the Israelites were commanded to make. It was to happen morning and evening. It required the burning of an entire animal carcass from the people’s herds or flocks; it could not be a wild animal. It had to be a male without defect.

These details matter because God required a costly sacrifice! King David expressed this in 2 Samuel 24:24, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.”

The burnt offering was not only a sacrifice for the atonement of sin, but also of thankfulness and worship to God. It was a gift given to God with the goal of it being accepted by God, who would then look with favor upon the one making the sacrifice.

While we no longer sacrifice animals, we are commanded to live so that our lives are accepted by God. Because we no longer need to go through a formal sacrificial rite every morning and evening to have atonement for our sins, we are invited to live in constant communion with Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God, who has made atonement for our sins, once and for all. 

Seize the moment and give good gifts to God, starting with yourself.

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