Leviticus: Worship=Sacrifice
Spending some time in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Leviticus has much to do about worship and day-to-day living for the Israelite people following the Exodus from Egypt. It’s full of very specific rules and rituals concerning sacrifices of worship and offerings covering various types of sins. As I read I realize that worship and sacrifice are connected so much that they are the same. Worship cannot happen without sacrifice.
In our modern context Jesus is our sacrificial lamb. He is the eternal blood sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Our response to that sacrifice is worship. Worship cannot happen outside of Christ. God loves it when we worship Him. My fear is that there are many who walk into churches on Sunday’s or Wednesday’s or whenever and believe that “worship” happens when we stand and sing. This requires so little, if any, sacrifice. When we sing to God we are expressing to Him our gratitude and praise for His sacrifice. We are responding to God for who He is and what He has done for us. But do we really prepare our hearts for this? Are we ready for this coming together with others to worship our God and King? What have we done with our lives since last week?
Is this expression carried over into the things that we say and the way that we live? Is worship more to us that a weekend ritual? True worship comes at a sacrifice of self. In Romans chapter 12:1-2 we are called to commit our bodies as living sacrifices to God, holy and pleasing to Him, as our spiritual act of worship. Since we no longer need a blood sacrifice – Jesus asks that we give to Him our lives.
Following Christ is a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice of my desires, my dreams, my wants, my needs, my hopes, my decisions, my likes, my dislikes, my way of life – turned completely over to Him. It’s sacrifices all of the “my”‘s for “His” – His dreams, His wants, His needs, His hopes, His decisions, His likes, His dislikes, His way of life. In John 14:6 Jesus reminds us that He is the Way-Truth-Life for us to follow and completely live by. He is our Way to life. Not just a way but the Way. Jesus is it.
Do you care as much about worshiping Jesus to put as much time and effort into it as the Old Testament Israelite’s did? To them, and to God, worship is a serious business that requires more than melody and harmony and an acoustic guitar…
Worship is sacrifice.
We know so little of this.
“This is what the LORD was speaking about when he said, ‘I must be respected as holy by those who come near me; before all the people I must be given honor.’ ” – Leviticus 10:3 NCV
