We sing the old hymn, “Give of your best to the Master,” but how deep is our understanding of the words and of God’s love for us?  Must we be reminded to give back to the Giver of all that sustains us and gives us life eternal?  The answer is yes, we must be reminded by the Holy Spirit daily of all that God has provided, all the ways He has protected us, with grateful praise for rescuing us from the bondage of our sins that would have brought eventual death.  Instead of death, God loved us enough to offer Life now and forever!  But first our sin problem must be remedied by the sacrifice of one who knew no sin—one without sin’s defects and deformities that twist God’s created into knots of hate, envy, jealousy, greed, and arrogance against God.  God had a plan and it was delivered in two parts.

Part One.  God’s plan in the days of Moses was for His people to pause their work, focus on God in community with others with the giving of their best from their flocks—all provided by God.  They were taught to give only unblemished lambs, goats, bulls and others animals. They must be without defect if it is to be an offering to our Holy, Perfect God. God commanded His rescued people from slavery to Egypt to stop and give a portion of their best to the One who gave His best daily to them.  Did God need these offerings, the God who owns everything on earth and in heaven?  No, but His people, created in the image of God, needed to learn to give like their Creator.  The greater purpose in giving was to pause in sacred assemblies to recognize their sins with God’s way to atone (cover over) their sins in these acts of offerings, sacrifice, and restitution for their sins.  The Giver wants His people to be grateful for the Gift of redemption by responding with giving generously themselves.  Only God knows what is best for us!

Part Two.  Atonement through sacrifice of lambs without blemish worked for centuries but history proves that it became corrupted in practice by humans given charge over God’s people.  They all but forgot God has the worked for God to line their own pockets.  Omnipotent God knew. God still loved His created. God’s Plan to save humanity (all the world, not just the Chosen ones) once and for all was already with God’s perfect timing to be deployed. 

God so loved the world that He gave us His One and Only Son to pay for our sins in full. Jesus who was with God from the Genesis of creation, was willing to come down from heaven and humbly be born of a virgin, moving into the neighborhood of humanity.  Jesus demonstrated the love of God to the unloved, sick, sinful, lonely, outcasts of society who desperately needed a Savior.  Jesus taught like no one else among the scribes and teachers of The Law of Moses.  All people were drawn to Jesus, even the ones who rebuked him for fear their power of over the oppressed would come to an end. But all who said yes to Jesus, followed Jesus, were rescued, and forgiven by Jesus could not take their focused eyes off Him who loved like no other.  But the payment for the sins of the world, once and for all, was due.  Jesus paid it all in full.

Today, everyone who believes that Jesus surrendered his life for ours in this sacrificial act of grace are now joint heirs with the Giver of this Gift of redeeming love.  Believing, trusting, repenting, and loving God back becomes a way of life to the committed to Jesus, His Son.  We know we will live forever in eternity with Him. 

God is still at work in each one of our lives.  That precious moment we realize He is working on our behalf with each breath we take should bring us to our knees with humbled gratefulness to God.  Do we need reminding?  Why yes, we do!  Thank you, Lord, for humbling my heart today.

Numbers 28

Daily Offerings

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Make sure that you present to me at the appointed time my food offerings, as an aroma pleasing to me.’ ³ Say to them: ‘This is the food offering you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day. ⁴ Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, ⁵ together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives. ⁶ This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. ⁷ The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the Lord at the sanctuary. ⁸ Offer the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you offer in the morning. This is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Sabbath Offerings

⁹ “‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. ¹⁰ This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

Monthly Offerings

¹¹ “‘On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. ¹² With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; ¹³ and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. ¹⁴ With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year. ¹⁵ Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the Lord as a sin offering.

The Passover

¹⁶ “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord’s Passover is to be held. ¹⁷ On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. ¹⁸ On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ¹⁹ Present to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. ²⁰ With each bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; ²¹ and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. ²² Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. ²³ Offer these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. ²⁴ In this way present the food offering every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the Lord; it is to be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. ²⁵ On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

The Festival of Weeks

²⁶ “‘On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the Lord an offering of new grain during the Festival of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ²⁷ Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. ²⁸ With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; ²⁹ and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. ³⁰ Include one male goat to make atonement for you. ³¹ Offer these together with their drink offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Throughout God’s Word we learn that God loves a cheerful, gracious giver without conditions or strings.  God looks over the earth to see who is full committed to Him and He helps them grow in their giving.  Gifts acceptable and pleasing to God are those given without expecting anything in return as way of bargaining with God. God does not accept gifts from those who make a show of their giving to feel important.  So, we give from a grateful heart and generous mind.

In the world of Gentile believers in Jesus (anyone not a Jew) we worship God in many ways on our Sabbath day each week by singing songs of grateful praise, acknowledging who God is and all that He does for us.  We give of our tithes and our offerings.  We worship God by listening and learning from His servant who teaches us.  We worship God by leaning into the guidance of His Holy Spirit.  But, included with these obedient acts of worship; we soon learn that our new life in Christ includes giving daily.  We develop a desire to daily give our whole being to God as a way of Life! 

The Apostle Paul describes this beautiful response to God as the ultimate offering;

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” Romans 12:1-3, MSG

THIS daily discipline is a pleasing aroma to God!  “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. 2 Corinthians 2:15-17, NLT

Lord,

Thank you for Your Holy Spirit who lives in us to be our daily reminder of who you are and all you do for us.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your mercy. Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  It’s all about you, dear Jesus. Lord, you are God and we are not.  To you be the glory!  I’m yours.  I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen