Leviticus 1 -- Futility

Max Lucado introduced Leviticus by calling it “the deed to the farm” – a rock farm given by God to His children.  He likened it to a dad giving his son a farm if his son would remove all of the rocks – an impossible task.  But then one day the father told his son, “Here is a farm for you.  I’ve removed all the rocks.”  Those rocks are our sins.  Max continued about that farm:  “Laden with stones.  Heavied with tasks.  Loaded with rocky rules and regulations… Any person who tries to be holy is soon convinced he can’t.  There are too many rules.  Too many rocks to remove.  We need help.  We need a Savior…. Holiness is what God desires.  But holiness is what we cannot achieve.  Just like the son couldn’t remove the rocks, so we can’t remove our sins.  But just like the father surprised the son, so our Father surprises us.  He removed the rocks for us.”

That’s what Leviticus teaches us.  Just thinking about being an Israelite male needing to give a burnt offering says it all.  I could see myself going to my herd to pick out the perfect bull calf to offer to God, hesitating to offer the best I had – wanting to keep it for myself (much as we all do with our lives).  Then taking it to the priest at the altar and waiting for an inspection, worried that our best isn’t good enough – that someone will find something wrong with it and we’ll have to go all the way back home, on a walk of shame, humiliated, to find another.

Once inspection was passed, it was on to the altar itself.  Probably a thought about whether this is truly acceptable to God or maybe senseless waste.  The animal is killed, but that’s not enough.  Now I’ve got to skin it, then cut it up into pieces.  And the worst part – washing the internal organs and legs with water before handing it all back to the priest to be laid on the fire.  I’ll bet more than once there were thoughts of sinful things as the offering was consumed by the fire, making them wonder if those thoughts had been forgiven by this offering, or would have to be covered by the next one.

Man, there had to be a lot of blood, and smoke, and fire – because there was a lot of sin.  Not just in deed, but in thought as well.  And like Max Lucado’s stony farm story, it must have been overwhelming to have to face the futility of constantly having to offer Your best animal for your own sins.

Father, thank You for the perfect sacrifice of Your Son, once for all, who amazingly covered all my sins and took them away as far as the east is from the west!  So undeserved.  So generous.  Such love! 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford