No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire. Any good marketing executive will tell you that in order to sell a new product to the public, you can't just tell your audience what it is; you must show them how it will improve their lives. In essence, you must show your audience a version of themselves that is happier, more attractive, and more fulfilled than the current, real version -- all because of your product. Weight loss ads, movie trailers, beer commercials -- they don't simply tell you about the product they're selling, but show you how consuming it in some way will make you happier and more fulfilled. Why does this work so well? Because we all want that which makes us happy. We all want to be fulfilled. But when the world is quick to offer you the lure of happiness and the promise of fulfillment, do they really care about a more fulfilled, happier you? Of course not. To the world, you are simply a means to profit; you are a pawn to be played. The world wants us to act like it, dress like it, spend money like it, talk like it -- all for the sake of draining us of everything we hold dear. Is it any wonder, then, that in looking to the world for fulfillment, we end up drained? Is it any surprise that in trying to "fit in" with the world, we are gouged by it? The Israelites had a bad habit of looking to the world and imitating it, just as we often do. But the Lord did not want the Israelites acting like, dressing like, or talking like the rest of the world. They were to be set apart -- a "special treasure to Me above all people" (Exodus 19:5) and "a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). Notice in Leviticus 2:11 that the Lord forbid their grain offerings from being made with leaven or honey. This may sound like a small detail to us, but leaven and honey were used heavily by the Gentiles in making sacrifices to their false gods. The Lord was commanding His people to be unlike the Gentiles -- to make a different kind of sacrifice. He was calling His people to be set apart from the rest of the world. We, like the Israelites, are called to be set apart. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world." But where the Lord commanded the Israelites to make a different kind of sacrifice, He calls us to be a different kind of sacrifice. We are to present our bodies a "living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1). We are to not only act differently than the world, but to truly live differently. How else will the world ever know the power of God in our lives unless they first acknowledge a difference in us? Proverbs 4:27 says, "Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil." Today, may I encourage you to look straight ahead into the loving eyes of Jesus, and follow Him -- and Him alone -- at all costs. Don't waste time looking to your left and your right. The world has nothing to offer you, but as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have something to offer the world. Be set apart. Look to Jesus, and let Him fulfill you. |
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