What God Has Given Really Belongs To Him

Leviticus 2:1-3 - When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.  He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.  The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the Lord made by fire.

The tabernacle was finished so God began to give them instructions for how to worship in it.  The second way he explained to them was how to bring a free will offering of grain. Since they would have only had what they brought with them…a grain offering was an act of unselfish love...and expensive gift to God …to show him just how much they truly loved him.  God only took a small portion of this gift for himself….he used most of this unselfish gift to sustain the men he had called to the priesthood.

What a great reminder to me that what God has given us really belongs to him.  I should be ready and excited about what I can give back to him to use to help others. Whether it be the simplest thing that I don’t even use any more…or the most treasured thing I perceive in my heart…my heart should never hesitate to place it at the feet of Jesus. 

I admit that some things are harder to give up than others. But God measures our love by our willingness to focus on his will for us.  Even Jesus struggled with this concept...but modeled for us in gethsemane….how to let go of our own will and complete God’s will for our lives.  God will use our sacrifice for something good…just like he used his son’s.

Father...thank you for the reminder that everything I have is yours…given to me out of your love for me to use to help you love on others. Forgive me for the times that I have let my selfish will keep something that you could have used to help others.  Show me how to pray the unselfish prayer of Jesus with new meaning and purpose…so I can learn to stay in your will all of the time.  Amen.