Give The Fattest Part to God

Today’s passage is Leviticus 7:1-21. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 7:1-4 (NIV)
¹  “‘These are the regulations for the guilt offering, which is most holy:
²  The guilt offering is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and its blood is to be sprinkled against the altar on all sides.
³  All its fat shall be offered: the fat tail and the fat that covers the inner parts,
⁴  both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys.

On verses 1-4:  Notice that when the priest offered an animal as a guilt offering, all the fat of the animal was to be burned on the altar as an offering to the Lord (Leviticus 7:3).  Why?  It’s because the fat of the animal represented the best part of the animal.  God was basically saying, “Save your best part for me.”

Likewise, God wants you to save your best for Him.  That means giving God the best part of your day, the best part of your time, the best part of your energy, the first part of your wealth (Proverbs 3:9-10), the fattest part of your love.  Don’t give God the leftovers.  Give your best to God.

When you give your best to God, God will look with favour on your offering.  That’s what He did with Abel.  “Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock [and] the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Genesis 4:4).

So let’s not hold back our best parts and keep them for ourselves.  Let’s lay our very best on the altar.  That’s what true worship is about.

Leviticus 7:5-10 (NIV)
⁵  The priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is a guilt offering.
⁶  Any male in a priest’s family may eat it, but it must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.
⁷  “‘The same law applies to both the sin offering and the guilt offering: They belong to the priest who makes atonement with them.
⁸  The priest who offers a burnt offering for anyone may keep its hide for himself.
⁹  Every grain offering baked in an oven or cooked in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who offers it,
¹⁰  and every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, belongs equally to all the sons of Aaron.

On verses 5-10:  Notice that whether it was the sin offering, the guilt offering (v7) , the burnt offering (v8) or the grain offering (v9-10), these belonged to the priest who offered it.  Once again we see God going out of His way to care for those who dedicated their working lives to serving God and His people.  Likewise, let’s take good care of those who offer their working lives to serve in the church by tithing faithfully.

Leviticus 7:11-16 (NIV)
¹¹  “‘These are the regulations for the fellowship offering a person may present to the LORD:
¹²  “‘If he offers it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering he is to offer cakes of bread made without yeast and mixed with oil, wafers made without yeast and spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour well-kneaded and mixed with oil.
¹³  Along with his fellowship offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of bread made with yeast.
¹⁴  He is to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the LORD; it belongs to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offerings.
¹⁵  The meat of his fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; he must leave none of it till morning.
¹⁶  “‘If, however, his offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day he offers it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day.

On verses 11-16:  In Leviticus 3 we first read about the fellowship offering.  Here now we learn that an Israelite could offer a fellowship offering for various reasons.  One reason could be as a way to thank God for a certain blessing that this person received (v12-15).  Another reason could be in fulfillment of a vow (v16).  Another reason could be as a “freewill offering” (v16), that is, the Israelite just wanted to give it for no particular reason except to give God worship.  Likewise, may we be people who continually give thanks, who keep our vows and our promises, and who freely give God the praise and worship He is due, not waiting for someone else to tell us to do it.

Leviticus 7:17-21 (NIV)
¹⁷  Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day must be burned up.
¹⁸  If any meat of the fellowship offering is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who offered it, for it is impure; the person who eats any of it will be held responsible.
¹⁹  “‘Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up. As for other meat, anyone ceremonially clean may eat it.
²⁰  But if anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.
²¹  If anyone touches something unclean–whether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean, detestable thing–and then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.'”

On verses 17-21:  These verses describe certain practices that the Israelites would maintain to help minimize disease and to keep their camp sanitary.  Watching out for your health and the health of others is a godly thing, for it shows we don’t take for granted the lives God has given us.

Father, You deserve the fattest part of my love.  May I be someone who continually gives thanks to You, who keeps my promises, and who doesn’t need others to push me before I start worshiping You freely.  May I also be someone who watches out for others’ health and safety.  Please use the worship and the offerings I give You to build Your kingdom.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!