Offering

Leviticus 8:28-38

The Priests’ Share

28 The Lord said to Moses, 29 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who brings a fellowship offering to the Lord is to bring part of it as their sacrifice to the Lord. 30 With their own hands they are to present the food offering to the Lord; they are to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the Lord as a wave offering. 31 The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. 32 You are to give the right thigh of your fellowship offerings to the priest as a contribution. 33 The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering shall have the right thigh as his share. 34 From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh that is presented and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as their perpetual share from the Israelites.’” 35 This is the portion of the food offerings presented to the Lord that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests. 36 On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded that the Israelites give this to them as their perpetual share for the generations to come.

37 These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering and the fellowship offering, 38 which the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai in the Desert of Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to the Lord.

Wow! I am amazed with these kinds of offerings, and they are all meaningful because it seems that God made them as regulations for the Lord, priests, and the Israelites. Yesterday, I thought of regulations and laws in my society and they are too burdensome and tricky to keep them all. Today, I guess these regulations through commands show how we human beings are wicked and selfish and we have no any good nature inside, so without them, we never do any good.

Even some Christians do hesitate to give offerings to God, as they think that God does not need anything else, including money. And others think that churches do business cheating Christians and in God's name. When they are ignorant of God, the Creator's presence, and they have no idea about the Word of God, there are possibilities of thinking like that. As they have a very different point of view without any faith or knowledge of God.

However, God works in unique and creative ways of doing His work: Through offerings. Without these kinds of commands, no one would willingly give or share their own money, food, or property with others. Offerings to the Lord come to the society we live in again, and it returns to us in a better shape of happiness, peace and safety, etc., because we humans live together. That is the plan of God who made these kinds of rules for us to live on earth in harmony.

In a nutshell, I pray that I am willingly giving offerings to God and share with my neighbors without hesitating and with more pleasure than I had until now. God's holy works move on and come true through the dedicated ones who have been anointed by God. They are pastors, ministers, preachers, and missionaries, and they are the source of the purification and righteousness of this community that I live in.  I am so thankful that they are my brothers and sisters in one Holy Spirit, and I love them and I admire their faithful lives. I give many thanks to them all.