I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 22-23.

At the beginning of the passage it discusses the need for priests to maintain both spiritual and physical holiness.  The passage then goes on to command that flawed animals are not acceptable offerings to God.  Every time I read this I think about what this means when we make offerings to God today by donating to charitable causes.  When we make an offering to God it must be perfect not used, not our castoffs.  That does not mean that we should not donate such things that still have use to charity.  It just means that we should not think of that as an offering to God.  If we have clothes which no longer fit us but are still in good repair, it is a good thing to donate it to a thrift store or other charity, but doing so does not qualify as an offering to God.

From time to time someone comes to the conclusion that Christians can benefit from paying closer attention, perhaps even from celebrating the festivals God commanded the Israelites to observe.  There is some merit to the idea.  Yet in every case I am aware of, they start the discussion with the Festival of First Fruits.  Oh, they mention the Sabbath in passing, but they start their discussion with the Festival of First Fruits.  However, I think we should pay more attention to that very first of the festivals which God established for the people of Israel.  I do not believe it matters whether we celebrate that Festival on Saturday or Sunday.  The important thing is that we should gather once a week to celebrate God.  Which brings up another point, our Sunday services should be a celebration.  They are not an obligation which we grudgingly spend an hour or two fulfilling.  No, they should be celebrations which we eagerly look forward to taking part in and regret when they come to an end.