Thanksgiving.

An expression of Gratitude to the Lord.

As we continue our series of Thanksgiving throughout the month of November, I would be remiss if I did not mention the book of Leviticus.

I’ve always felt that the book of Leviticus was quite boring and hard to understand. A list of laws. Do this, don’t do this. And there are like six hundred and thirteen! That’s a lot to read about. And since Jesus has already fulfilled the law in our day and age (meaning he died for our sins so we are forgiven), why is it even relevant to us readers now?

Let’s take a look:

“ ‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord’” Leviticus 2:1-3

Weird right? And so whenever I get to passages I don’t quite understand I turn to David Guzik’s Youtube channel. He has been one of the most influential Bible teachers to me these past couple years.

And turns out, there is so much wisdom in this passage.

Guzik explains that the Grain Offering was a most precious gift of gratitude to God. 

How exactly does grain correlate to gratitude? 

Let’s look at the life of an ancient Israelite compared to our modern ones.

Today grain, or wheat as we know it, can be found readily available to us at almost any grocery store. It’s so convenient nowadays that we don’t really even use it to make our own homemade bread. We can get that at most stores too. So it would hardly take any effort at all to bring a grain offering to God.

But back then, making bread was no joke. Think about all the work that went into it. First you had to have land to plant in. Then you had to cultivate the land for it to be ready for planting. Then you actually had to plant the grain. Care for it as it grows. Make sure it was watered and weeded. Then harvest it. Then you had to prepare it for grinding. Once it was ground and processed only then was it ready to be used as a grain offering or to make bread. 

That is a long process and a lot of work.

But think how special that would be for God. He sees how much time you spent caring for the grain. How hard you worked to make sure you got a good crop. How you planned and prepared so that the offering would be of the finest making. 

Have you ever gotten a gift that you’d been blown away by?

I’m really into stationary. I seriously have more pens and notebooks than anyone I know. And I take them everywhere. If you paid the slightest attention to me you’d see that I have a pen addiction.

I graduated with my masters degree in 2020. That was the year of covid and all graduation ceremonies were shut down. And so my mom threw me a graduation party at home. It was a bit tumultuous for our family back then so not everyone made it. My cousin Sophie was still in high school then. And I didn’t think she was going to come. But, she made it there just to support me and I’ll never forget the present she got me. It was a notebook and pens and the most heartfelt message written on a card.

That gift meant so much to me. And it had nothing to do with the brand of the pens or the size of the notebook. 

Sophie was just a kid. She put effort into coming to the party. At that time her mother and my mother weren’t speaking. I’m sure it felt awkward to come. There was no need for her to spend any money on me. But she did. The money she worked for at her part-time job should be going to her spending needs. Still she used her hard earned money on me. She also knew exactly what I’d like to get as a gift. She took time to notice my interests. 

It wasn’t an extravagant gift. It wasn’t an expensive gift. But it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received because I knew it came directly from her heart in love. 

The grain offering was a way for an Israelite, back in Old Testament days, to offer a heart-felt gift of gratitude to God. A way to show God how much you love and trust him. God could see the effort that went into making the grain. He could see the hours behind the planting and caring for the grain. He could see the care and joy that went into all aspects of creating the grain-the laughter of the kids helping in the field, the bond of a father and son harvesting the crop together, the tender teaching of a mother and daughter grinding the grain into flour. 

When you can see how much love and effort go into making a gift, it makes it that much more special and genuine. I’m sure it was the most amazing aroma to God.

We no longer have to give those types of offerings to God, because Jesus came as our perfect offering, but you can still show gratitude to God.

Think about all the times He has helped you, answered your prayers, cared for you. We should be wanting to offer our gratitude continually. 

What can you offer this month as thanksgiving to God? Can you offer him more of your time? How about more effort in your relationships? Maybe even working with a joyful heart when you don’t feel like participating? 

God gives us so much. Let’s give Him our best, genuine, most heartfelt offerings.