May 6, 2024

Leviticus 1:1-17 (HCSB)
The Burnt Offering
1 Then the Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you may bring your offering from the herd or the flock. 3 “If his gift is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord. 4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. 5 He is to slaughter the bull before the Lord; Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 Then he must skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest will prepare a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Aaron’s sons the priests are to arrange the pieces, the head, and the suet on top of the burning wood on the altar. 9 The offerer must wash its entrails and shanks with water. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 10 “But if his gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from sheep or goats, he is to present an unblemished male. 11 He will slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord. Aaron’s sons the priests will sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. 12 He will cut the animal into pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest will arrange them on top of the burning wood on the altar. 13 But he is to wash the entrails and shanks with water. The priest will then present all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 14 “If his gift to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present his offering from the turtledoves or young pigeons.15 Then the priest must bring it to the altar, and must twist off its head and burn it on the altar; its blood should be drained at the side of the altar. 16 He will remove its digestive tract, cutting off the tail feathers, and throw it on the east side of the altar at the place for ashes. 17 He will tear it open by its wings without dividing the bird. Then the priest is to burn it on the altar on top of the burning wood. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

TW Mitchell
For many years, I served the Lord preaching to the homeless at the Nashville Rescue Mission. Several people, who were considered respectful church members, would give me clothes or Bibles to carry to the mission for donations. Some of the donations were very nice quality. However, sometimes boxes of Bibles had print so small no one could possibly read them and others were completely worn out. A large bag of clothes donated were so miserably worn it was beyond belief. The donations that were not acceptable, I declined. We wonder how could someone bring unworthy gifts to the Lord? The Lord, from His Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, instructed the sons of Israel to bring animals from the herds for offerings to Him. The herds represented the prime quality of the best of the best. The burnt offering was to be without blemish or defect. The picture of the Old Testament offering was for believers to present themselves unreservedly to Him in faith, symbolically through sacrifices of burnt offerings. Do you have an ability or talent you’ve been struggling to give to God? Jesus did not withhold a single ounce of His life from us. He gave all He had. How can we be a sacrificial offering of service to the Lord in everything (see Romans 1:1-2 NASV)? God wants and deserves our sacrifices and gifts to be acceptable and pleasant in every area.