Greetings everyone,
Consider with me the following scripture: Leviticus 22:29 - And when ye offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. How about that? In Old Testament times a sacrifice could be offered up to God by an Israelite as an act of sheer gratitude. Note that this was not necessarily a corporate sacrificial offering, but that it could be offered individually. Just out of pure recognition of God, clothed with sincere gratefulness- this sacrifice was offered. In modern day church colloquialism we'd call it a type of 'free will' offering.
When you get a moment, take a look at the thanksgiving offering in the book of Leviticus. It is discussed primarily in chapters 3, 7, and 22. For in-depth study purposes, note that it falls under the category of a type 'peace offering'.
In His Service,
DsW
What intrigues me most about this scripture is that the sacrifice of thanksgiving is offered at our own will. The human will is a product of the heart, which is part of man's soul. This thanksgiving sacrifice is a matter of the heart, and we must will to offer it. But look at the Hebrew word "ratsown", from which "will" comes (http://tinyurl.com/l63qzr). It means "pleasure, delight, desire". Our concept of willingness is warped because we view it as making or forcing ourselves to do something when we really don't feel like it. To be willing is to take pleasure or delight in. Our sacrifice of thanksgiving is to be offered at our pleasure, our delight...not at our arm-twisting or grudgingly out of necessity. We should desire to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to our GOD. Merely going through the motions out of obligation is only an indication of one's ingratitude.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord is good all the time and I thank him.
ReplyDeleteBru, dat wuz hot!! i gotta be honest, i hadn't put too much time into reading the Old Testament. But i think i'll take a look now.
ReplyDeleteYea!