- And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:14 – Our chapter today outlines the different annual feasts the Jewish people were to hold in remembrance of what the Lord had done for them. Our verse comes from the section describing the Feast of Firstfruits. When the Israelites were to come into the land and begin to harvest the plentiful produce that was there that the Lord was to provide for them, the command was to bring the first gatherings of it to the Lord as an offering of thanks to Him. Our verse above shows that while God wasn’t asking for any significant amount of the first part of the harvest, He was commanding them that the very first came to Him. The people weren’t to eat of the of the bread or grain of the harvest until God was given His portion first. The lesson the Lord was teaching the people with this command is one followers of Him today need to hold fast to…God comes first. When it comes to our offerings to the Lord, God needs to get the first and best. It shows we see Him as worthy of such and trustworthy enough to provide more after we give Him the first portion. Let’s today take time to evaluate where our offerings to the Lord currently are ranking Him within our life. Is He first and foremost? Is He placed after a few things? It He even on the list? Whether it’s with our funds, our calendar, or our life, God deserves to be first. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3225
- Leviticus 23 Daily DEVO Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places. Leviticus23:3 – If I counted right it said to do no work, or ordinary work, six separate times in this chapter. God must have realized before we even began down that road that our busyness can easily come between us and our time with God. This chapter is filled with directions on how to worship Him but all had this first step of setting aside your normal work and schedule to step into time with God. Make sure your busyness in life isn’t keeping you from life with God. If you can’t find time for God in your current schedule your schedule needs a change. Just don’t be surprised if you’re lacking peace and joy in your life if you don’t give the Giver of those time in your day. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 905
- And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest…Leviticus 23:9-10 – God is giving the people instructions here on how to handle their harvest in the promise land. Remember though they aren’t in the promise land yet. They haven’t crossed over anything, taken over anything, or even planted anything! Yet God is already giving them directions on how to handle their harvest in the promise land. Why? Because God is confident about His promises and ability to come through on what He says. Hence why in this passage He says “When” you come into the land I promise you, not “If.” God is giving the directions on how to handle this because He is sure about what He is going to do in their life. Maybe that’s another reason why God is giving us many of the commands we see in scripture. He knows what He plans to do in our story and He is establishing us now to handle what’s to come, even if we don’t see it yet. God says come to Him who are weary and find rest. Maybe we aren’t feeling weary now or needing that rest in this moment, but God knows we will and is telling us now He’s already established a place for us to go when that restless time comes. God promises to be a light in our darkness. Maybe right now everything is clear and bright, yet God is giving us this promise because He knows eventually our story will need a light and He’ll have already told you He’s exactly what you’ll need. God knows what your future holds and is establishing Himself today as your provider for the needs of your tomorrow. When you trust in Jesus, you have nothing to fear or worry yourself with when it comes to the uncertainty of tomorrow. God has tomorrow under control. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1946
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