Leviticus 27:9-13: a reflection

9“‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to the LORD, all that any man gives of such to the LORD becomes holy. 10He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. 11If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to the LORD, then he shall set the animal before the priest; 12and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be. 13But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.

The law about vowed offerings is strict about one thing: what has been dedicated to God is holy and must not be swapped out. If someone vows an animal to the LORD, it becomes holy; he shall not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad or a bad for a good. Once given to God, it is his, and cannot be quietly downgraded or traded for something the owner would rather keep less of. The dedication is binding.

Notice what this guards against. It is easy, in a moment of zeal or gratitude, to dedicate something good to God, and then later, when the cost sinks in, to want to substitute something lesser, to quietly swap the valuable thing we promised for a cheaper one, hoping God will not mind. The law forbids exactly this. What was dedicated stays dedicated; you cannot give God your best in a moment of devotion and then downgrade it when enthusiasm cools. The commitment holds.

That is a searching word about the commitments and dedications we make to God. In moments of gratitude, conviction, or zeal, we promise things, our time, our resources, some area of our lives, dedicating them to God. And then, when the cost becomes real, the temptation is to renegotiate, to substitute something lesser, to quietly give him less than we promised. This law calls us to keep faith with our dedications: what you have given to God, do not downgrade or take back. Be careful what you vow, and then keep it. Do not give God your best in devotion and then substitute something cheaper when the cost sinks in.

Lord, your law forbade swapping out what had been dedicated to you; the vowed offering stayed holy and could not be downgraded. Search my commitments to you. Where I have dedicated something in a moment of zeal, my time, my resources, an area of my life, keep me from quietly substituting something lesser when the cost sinks in. Help me keep faith with my dedications, not giving you my best in devotion and then downgrading it. Help me be careful what I vow, and then to keep it.