Leviticus 6:14-18: a reflection

14“‘This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar. 15He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma, as its memorial portion, to the LORD. 16That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting. 17It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as are the sin offering and the trespass offering. 18Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of the LORD made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.’”

This passage gives the instructions for the grain offering. A handful of the fine flour, oil, and all the frankincense was to be burned on the altar as a memorial portion to the Lord, a pleasing aroma. And the rest was to be eaten by the priests, but not just anywhere; it was to be eaten without yeast in a holy place, the court of the tent of meeting, because it was most holy. Even the eating of the offering was surrounded with reverence.

Two things are woven together here. First, God receives a portion of the offering as his own, the memorial portion burned before him. Second, he provides for his priests from the same offering, giving them a share to eat. The offering brought to God became both worship and provision, going up to him in fragrance and coming back as food for those who served him. And the whole thing was treated as holy, to be handled with reverence, not casually.

There is a quiet picture here of how devotion and provision meet. What we offer to God is not lost; he receives it and, in his own way, provides through it. And the reverence surrounding even the priests' meal reminds us that our dealings with holy things, our worship, our service, our giving, are not to be casual but treated as sacred. Offer to God the best portion, trust him to provide, and handle the holy things of your life with reverence, remembering that what is given to God is caught up in something sacred.

Lord, the grain offering went up to you as a fragrant memorial and came back as holy food for your servants, and even its eating was surrounded with reverence. Teach me to offer you my best, to trust you to provide, and to handle the holy things of my life, my worship, my service, my giving, with the reverence they deserve. Let nothing sacred become casual in my hands. Amen.