Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 2:1

1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:

At first glance, there are some similarities between the meat offering and the consecration offering that we heard of in Exodus. Both involved making a sacrifice where a portion of it was burned on the altar to the Lord, and another portion was given to the priests. But these are not the same offering, and there are some key differences to be noted.

The first is who made each offering. For the consecration offering, it was made by the priests themselves, to consecrate a new priest to his work. The meat offering was made by everyday Israelites, those not of the priest class, for the purpose of giving thanks.

Unlike other offerings, the meat offering was entirely voluntary. Israelites would bring them when they felt very blessed by the Lord’s bounty, so much so that they wanted to bring a gift of thanks. Perhaps they secured a good contract, or received a bounteous crop, or had a good rainfall, or secured a marriage betrothal. They would signify their awareness that this was a blessing from God by bringing an offering to the altar. It was as if to say, “you have blessed me, and even more than I need, so here is a part of it returned back to you.” And because it was presented as a gift to God, and God shares His gifts with His servants, those priests would receive a portion of it also.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Meat OfferingFlour, oil, frankincenseGiving gratitude for blessings

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Personal Commitment: Month 8

December’s Review

For December I wanted to embrace a mentality of bounty and gratitude. My commitment was to pause each day and recognize the goodness that I have all around me.

And so I tried to pause each day, and pick out a different thing I had that brought good things into my life. I considered the car that I drive to work each day, the family I come home to each night, the creative ideas I enjoy, my good health, and the ability to get the things I need and want.

I even had an entire series on this blog that was based around recognizing the good things that are given universally to us all, such as the variety of the earth, the healing potential of our hearts, and our innate desire to improve our world.

I’m sorry to say that I forgot about this goal for about half of the month, though, and I need to figure out a better process for reminding myself of it between these check-ins.

But I did find a deep sense of peace on the days that I did remember it. There was just a strong sense of “I’m really in a good place, and things are going to be okay.” I can conclude that stopping to count my blessings from time-to-time is a healthy, grounding practice, and I want to continue with it.

January’s Commitment)

Of course January is often seen as a time of new beginnings, a time to recommit to self-improvement. I thought that fitting, because honestly I’ve been feeling a bit anxious about heaping too many to-do list items on myself with these monthly commitments.

So instead, I am going to double down on a commitment that I put in place during a previous month, but which I have lately become lax on. I am referring to my practice of two-hour check-ins to ground myself and set intentions for the next part of the day.

My days are better when I break them down into smaller portions and when I focus on doing right things in the moment, rather than procrastinating them to a later hour. Taking a break to connect to myself used to sound like a luxury that I couldn’t afford, but it makes me more present and more effective at everything else I need to do. And one of the things I will be adding to my pool of grounding exercises will be reflecting on the wonderful bounty I have all around me.

I’ll let you know how this recommitment goes for January at the start of next month. Here’s one New Year’s resolution that I don’t intend to give up on!

Thank you.