Leviticus 1 begins the direction from God on how to really use the Tent of Meeting that Moses and crew have built according to God’s specifications and direction. “God called Moses and spoke to him”. Do you hear from God? Does He call to you? Not even knowing you I can answer the question…..yes He calls….yes He speaks to you. He has already called and spoken through His written Word. He has already called and spoken through his Creation. He continues to call and speak to us through His Holy Spirit and those people He puts in our lives as brothers and sisters in His body. God is still in the communication business. He is still very much calling and speaking and waiting for us to do what Moses did – listen and obey. That seems to be the breakdown for me as much as anything…..I often don’t listen and then when I do hear.…I figure it is only a suggestion or an idea…..not something that God requires me to take action on. Ephesians 5:25 is one of those things: “Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church–a love marked by giving, not getting”…..hmmm…..good idea God but that means I have to put her first and not focus on my own selfish needs. Just to be equal opportunity, Ephesians 5:22 says: “Wives, understand and support your husbands”….or other versions say submit to…..either way to be obedient a wife has to put her husband first and follow his leadership. That is what it means to be called and spoken to….we hear and DO what God says. There is a very long list of God’s calling and speaking in the book He wrote for us called the Bible. We need to read, listen and then heed it.
The chapter gets into the nitty gritty of sacrifice. Animals are to die, blood to be spilled, and offerings to be blessed and burned. Why? To cover sin. We know from other places in scripture that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin”. That is why Jesus had to go to the Cross and be crucified. His blood had to be shed to cover your sin and mine. The sacrifice was to be “without defect”. Not some crippled or old animal that was about to kick the bucket. God called for the sacrifices to be the best there were in the flock or herd. Jesus again was the only hope for getting us over our sin problem as He was the only person ever to live a sinless life. He alone was worthy to be a sacrifice for our sin. He alone could be pleasing to God. We need Jesus my friends. There is no other way, save perfection and living a life free from sin, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no other ticket to eternity. Jesus died that we could have a perfect sacrifice that would cover our multitude of sins. He wen to the Cross to save us. But we have to receive Him. We have to ask Him to be our Savior and Lord. Are you sacrificed up? Will you be allowed to enter God’s eternal Kingdom? There is only One way….don’t miss the chance.
