SCRIPTURE: Numbers 28
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Here we go again. Another list of sacrifices. Sometimes it’s hard to fathom why so much bloodshed. And Samuel’s words seem hard to believe: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” [1 Samuel 15:22] In Numbers we hear that these sacrifices are an aroma pleasing to God [Numbers 28:2]. Actually, Samuel’s words reveal that the ‘aroma’ is not the burning flesh and blood, but the obedient, submissive heart behind them.
These sacrifices offered at the beginning and end of the day, every seventh day, the first day of every month, the annual remembrance of Israel’s new beginnings (Passover) and the annual celebration of the first crops – these are highlight how life begins (and ends) with the Lord. He is the first, He is the source, He is the beginning. The humble, submissive heart recognizes this, and lives accordingly. Starting each day, each activity, each celebration, each event, with prayer – or better, with expressed dependence on the Lord – reveals the humble, submissive heart. Jesus made this His daily practice: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” [Mark 1:35]
These sacrifices are a disciplined reminder of our absolute dependence on the Lord, above all else. Muslims have their own intense discipline of prayer that remind them of their dependence on Allah: Prayer is performed five times a day: at dawn, noon, in the afternoon, at sunset, and nightfall; it is obligatory for all Muslims once they have reached puberty.
Compare this to our own lax or lacking prayer habits. While we have been set free from the “law” of prescribed prayers, this freedom does not release us from our need for prayer, or for humble, submissive, obedient hearts. What should motivate us is love, gratitude and wonder. I think about the sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume and tears, while the Pharisee host did not even offer the customary water. Jesus observes that her actions reveal deep love and gratitude [Luke 7:39-47]. Which raises the question, what do our expressions of prayer and reveal about our own love and gratitude?
God instituted these sacrifices to make a point, and to teach a lifestyle – one of humility, love, gratitude and dependence. Have I gotten the point?
PRAYER:
Lord, You do not want blood, You want my heart. At the beginning of every day, and throughout my whole life – may I seek You first!