Wed's blog

Leviticus 7:28-9:6, Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalm 37: 12-29, Proverbs 10:5


I have gone a few crazy kicks in my life. Right now I'm doing this 30-day cleanse/change of diet, and Divan is actually doing with me. A couple years ago I decided to be a vegetarian for a month. That was definitely the hardest, and D wanted nothing to do with that one. Between these two life changes, and my absolute love of food, I know as a truth I can never totally give up meat. Food gives me joy, and D will be the first to testify to this. Nikkie cranky=give the woman some food. Reading Leviticus made me think about how much God must love food too. It talks about the offerings that the early Hebrews made to God in worship, sacrifice, and obedience.

As I blogged a couple years ago, when slaughtering animals, there are lots of smells, sounds, and flavors that fill the air. God wanted the best parts of these animals that offered. It brings up the image of Abel and Cain in Genesis. God wanted the best...he wanted the parts that would be the biggest sacrifice. Leviticus 8:21 says, "After washing the internal organs and the legs with water, Moses burned the entire ram on the altar as a burnt offering. It was a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him." A few verses down, in verse 28, it continues, "Moses then took all the offerings back from them and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering. This was the ordination offering. It was a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord." This pleasing aroma... Something that smelled so good, filled the air and made God happy! It pleased Him! This sacrifice! And it was the beginning of traditions and rituals that the Jewish people would perform for generations and generations to come.

Jump a few centuries ahead, the Jewish people were still practicing these sacrifices and rituals. Paul was expanding the early church, and teaching hundreds through his letters. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?"(2 Corinthians 2:15, 16 NIV). With Jesus dying on the cross, He became the new covenant, a substitute for the sacrifices that were observed before. He became the ultimate sacrifice. And we, as believers, followers, and imitators of Christ, WE become that pleasing aroma to God.