Giving God First and Best

Now this is the law of the guilt offering: it is most holy” (Leviticus 7:1).

In my journey through Leviticus I relearned an important principle of worship and reverence -- one which I still too often forget. For example, in the seventh chapter we read of God's specific requirements for Israel’s offerings: They should be without defect, be the best the person had to offer, and should be the first fruits – not the second fruits – but the first and finest of the flock and harvest. And finally, the offerings were to be set apart specially and specifically for God.

And so I got to contemplating, if God commanded His people to set apart animals and plants as holy, how much more should Jesus Christ -- the Lamb of God -- be treated by God’s children as holy?

Scripture often refers to Christians as God’s children and Christ's friends. But perhaps because of the comfortable images those words generate, some of us might be tempted to blur the distinction between sacred and ordinary. God is “the man upstairs” instead of “our Father in heaven.” Jesus’ name becomes a marketing tool instead of a road map to salvation. Mass attendance becomes an opportunity to keep on God’s “good side” than to worship Him.

The Old Testament laws related to sacrifices and offerings illustrate God’s impeccable sacredness and holiness. And, of course, God has not changed. Angels still cover their eyes in His presence, and how much more should we who are reconciled to God by Christ’s blood, speak His name reverently, treat each other preferentially, and live our lives in as holy, blameless and as sacred a way as possible?