If Leviticus leads your finger to the little black "x" at the top of the screen, won't you hold on a moment longer?
Leviticus 1:2-9 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance 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, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar, but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priests shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord."
Whew! Aren't you glad you don't have to do that today? Can you imagine the labor and time and stench of sacrificing a bull? Choosing the perfect specimen, knowing each part and preparing it accordingly, following through with all of the proper procedures? Not to mention the plain old grossness of it all?
We don't live there anymore. This type of sacrifice does nothing for our relationship with this same God. No longer should we be living in bondage to the law. The book of Galatians speaks to the fact that we are not "justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ" (2:16). The only sacrifice we are to offer is ourselves. A living sacrifice that would worship our God.
Because He offered Himself. Offered himself up to lead us out of bondage, out of sin-slavery, out of the burden of the law, out of our past hurts, our insecurities, and into a relationship with His perfect Father.
One evening after dinner, alone in our kitchen, I slipped my hand into the cupboard holding a tin can of my grampa's soft chocolate mints (yes, that is how I spell grampa :)). I silently and methodically pulled up on the lid and rolled back the plastic. They were melty and minty and delicious. At least that's how I think they must have tasted if I went to all that trouble. I was told I couldn't have anymore that evening but I just couldn't resist. So there I sat, huddled in a corner behind a couch hiding my irresistible need to eat those little morsels. This is my first memory of needing to eat something simply to satisfy myself. I would have been around 7.
In the later elementary grades through high school I would snack when I got home from school. There was a variety of foods and I could just skim the top of bags and boxes so the amount wouldn't be noticable to anyone.
And if you have been reading this "Satisfied By Love" series you know that in college I just waited until my roommate left for the weekend and that has carried through into adulthood. Wanting never to be left alone knowing what the temptation would be, but also looking forward to the enjoyment of giving in.
This sin that has been part of my life for so long can keep me in bondage if I choose to let it. It doesn't make me any less His, but it keeps me from fully becoming all He has created me to be. For all of us who have wandered in the wilderness or felt left out in the storm or tried to earn God's love or tried to sacrifice something other than our very lives, Jesus died. The victory is already won. You are healed. You are whole. You have been made new. But we have to walk in that truth. Not say we believe it and live lives unchanged. By the power of the Holy Spirit it can be different.
Today I passed a sign that said HUGE COOKIE SALE! Wow. At the start of a weekend that leaves me home with my daughter as my husband goes to invest in the lives of college students through a campus ministry. My hands were on the wheel saying TURN RIGHT TURN RIGHT! You could have a feast! But I kept driving instead, and as I passed the sign I heard Aaron Shust sing:
I worship You
and my heart cries
Glory
Hallelujah
Father You're here!
And Romans 12:1 came to mind: "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual act of worship."
For people who don't understand this struggle it probably seems trivial. But for me, today, driving past that sign was worship. Letting my mind be drawn into words honoring God was my spiritual act of worship, offering my body to him instead of doing with it what I please.
Glory! Hallelujah! Father You're here and You're enough to keep me driving past that sign, walking past the cupboard, opening Your Word instead of opening the fridge, and letting the quiet draw me into prayer with You instead of into a bag of doughnuts, or a romance novel, or the next project on my to-do list, or a compromising website, or a head start on tomorrow's work. And there I can be refreshed by You. I can be satisfied by walking in the truth that you love me, have sacrificed for me, and I am yours. Thank You Lord.
Take a listen:
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