Level 4 Thanksgiving Sacrifice

An overview of Giving to God in response to all He has done for you.

David’s instructions in regard to giving to God.

1 Chronicles 16

²⁸ Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

²⁹ Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

 

The Israelites were provided with specific instructions regarding a thanksgiving sacrifice.  God gave them a list of the hows and whats if they wanted to show him their gratitude.

Leviticus 7

¹¹ “‘These are the regulations for the fellowship offering anyone may present to the Lord:

¹² “‘If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. ¹³ Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. ¹⁴ They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. ¹⁵ The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.

¹⁶ “‘If, however, their offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day. 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, the one who offered it will not be accepted. It will not be reckoned to their credit, for it has become impure; the person who eats any of it will be held responsible.

 

Today it’s different

We do not offer sacrifices on a physical alter.  We do not leave bread and animals on the alter.  But the concept remains the same.  We have money, time, and talents which we can lay on the alter for our Lord out of gratitude for what he has done for us.

Exercise

List in your journal what you have that could be given to God as a gift.  I think God appreciates our time as much as He does anything.  I run around busy all the time.  I struggle with making time just to spend with God in prayer and meditation and yet we are told this is really important.  Could you offer a few moments a day to just spend talking and listening to God.  Or do you have some money, maybe you give up a coffee a day for a month, to make a donation to God above what you normally give.

Think about what you have, what God has given you, that you could give back to the Lord as a gift.

Playlist

This Christmas song for kids has a great message for us as we think about what we can do for God.

The Little Drummer Boy       Burl Ives           Have A Holly Jolly Christmas Holiday 8

Closing verse on giving to God.

Mark 12

⁴¹ And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

⁴² And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

⁴³ And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

⁴⁴ For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.