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Leviticus 2:7 "And if you're offering is a cereal offering cooked in a pan, it should be made of fine flour with oil."

 

Yesterday's post was about the magnificence of the temple Solomon built. While we can't all create give lavish offerings to God, we are all called to offer Him something. In Leviticus, God is specifying the kinds of offerings to be made by a people who are not yet accustomed to making sacrifices to the Lord.

 

Sometimes cooked cereal offerings were appropriate, and here God says such an offering should be made of fine flour and cooked in oil. It was to be done right, in other words, just as the temple was, on a much grander scale. Just because it is a vastly smaller offering does not change the fact that it should be a good one, not a half-hearted sharing of grain, but a fine and well-cooked serving that is both fit for God to receive and for the priests to eat.

 

God does not need our offerings at all, but He provides for them so that we can properly show our love and gratitude to Him. It would not be a true sign of love if we just grabbed some grain on our way out the door and threw it in the collection basket (although how often have I done just that, not with actual grain, of course, but fishing through my wallet at the last minute for the collection?). 

 

Our offerings to God should be our first fruits - the best of what we have to give, given in love to honor our God who has given us everything.