Sometimes I Preach - Leviticus 6:1-7: Sins Requiring a Guilt Offering

God's timing never ceases to amaze me.  He knows what I need and when I will need it. I finished a one year Bible in April (I guess I was on the 16 month track!) and I picked up a One Year Chronological Bible to use for daily quiet time over the next year or so.  So yesterday, I was reading February 17th which included this passage from Leviticus. Obviously, it is June and not February, but God knew I needed this message now.  I felt the prompting to write about how He ministered to me through His Word because I really doubt I am the only one who needs this today.
  
Here is the passage from the New Living Translation:

1 And the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Suppose some of the people sin against the LORD by falsely telling their neighbor that an item entrusted to their safekeeping has been lost or stolen. Or suppose they have been dishonest with regard to a security deposit, or they have taken something by theft or extortion. 3 Or suppose they find a lost item and lie about it, or they deny something while under oath, or they commit any other similar sin. 4 If they have sinned in any of these ways and are guilty, they must give back whatever they have taken by theft or extortion, whether a security deposit, or property entrusted to them, or a lost object that they claimed as their own, 5 or anything gained by swearing falsely. When they realize their guilt, they must restore the principal amount plus a penalty of 20 percent to the person they have harmed. 6 They must then bring a guilt offering to the priest, who will present it before the LORD. This offering must be a ram with no physical defects or the animal's equivalent value in silver. 7 The priest will then make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be forgiven.

This passage ministered to me personally because of a situation I am dealing with currently that has caused a lot of hurt and resentment that I needed to deal with to have serenity in my own life.  I don't wish to share that situation in this forum, but I will share another story that illustrates the principles.  I just don't want people to see this and think God's timing is amazing because of a 20 year old story!  


When I was a senior in high school, I went on a Spring Break trip to Panama City, Florida with a group of friends.  On our way down to Florida, we stopped overnight in Georgia.  Several of us were piled into a motel room and I didn't want to bring in all my stuff because there wasn't room and we would be leaving again early the next morning to hit the beach.  So I brought in my overnight bag and left my suitcase in the van.  During the night, the van was broken into and my suitcase was stolen, along with another girl's suitcase.  A situation like that will immediately reveal what is important to you.  There were many things in the suitcase, like clothes and swimsuits and money and other personal items.  Losing these things left me feeling violated. It was inconvenient to replace them so I could be properly outfitted for my vacation.  I was angry that this had happened to me.  The money, and the clothes and the personal items, however, were not the big loss for me.  They could all be replaced.  I was devastated because Pinky was in the suitcase.  Pinky was my security blanket.  It was a gift to my mother at a baby shower for me so I had literally had him since I was born.  I had slept with him nearly every night and had my parents searching for him so I could go to sleep on more than one occasion when I was small.  To the thief, I am sure the money was a much bigger prize, but to me, it was my blanket.  The same blanket that was probably immediately tossed because it had no value.  I am not sure why Pinky wasn't in my overnight bag.  Maybe it was full.  Maybe I didn't know all of the girls on the trip well and didn't want to break out the blanket on the first night in a crowded motel.  One thing was sure, I thought he was safe in the car.  I was wrong.  

The first lesson in the passage for me was that all sin is ultimately against the Lord.  "Suppose some of the people sin against the Lord by falsely telling their neighbor...."  The passage doesn't ignore the loss to the neighbor, but first and foremost says that the sin is against the Lord.  When it is time to make restitution, the restitution must be made both to the neighbor and to the Lord.  The restitution to the neighbor is based on the value of what was taken.  The object must be returned or paid for plus a penalty of 20%.  The guilt offering to the Lord was always the same.  He required an offering of a ram with no physical defect to be sacrificed by the priest for the forgiveness of the sin.  

A couple of things stood out to me about this guilt offering.  The first was that it was public.  A public acknowledgement of guilt by bringing a guilt offering to the priest at the temple. The second was that it was expensive.  It is likely that the guilt offering would be more costly than the restitution in many cases.  It made me think of a parent telling a child "this hurts me more than it does you."  What a thought.  My blanket was practically worthless in the eyes of the world, even if returned with a 20% penalty, but God says that the sin requires the same guilt offering as a much bigger theft.  It wasn't so much about what was taken but more about the sin.  The coveting, the stealing, the breaking of God's laws and I believe about the breaking of a heart.  As a parent, I know the pain it brings to me when my child's heart is broken over a loss, especially one that is unexplainable.  The pain of a loss that is the result of a sinful act of a neighbor, or a friend or a family member.  It is always worse when the loss is at the hand of someone you know, and not just a theft by a stranger like the one illustrated in my story.  And this passage shows me that God's heart is broken when the heart of his child is broken.  


As I considered the passage further I have had a few more thoughts.  One is that sometimes it is possible that the guilty party doesn't recognize their guilt.  It says in verse 5, "when they realize their guilt" which indicates that there may be time when they deny their guilt or don't realize their offense.  Another thing that comes to mind is that I have to deal with my own loss whether or not I get restitution.  The only way I know how to effectively deal with my loss is to take it to the Lord and forgive the other person and then Let Go and Let God.  I don't need to stuff my feelings, but to acknowledge my hurt through pouring out my heart to God in prayer.  Putting my focus on God helps me to remember that whether the offender realizes their sin or not, God knows the details and all sin is ultimately against Him.  I know He can handle it.  Letting go through forgiveness helps me to live more peacefully without the resentment that only hurts me.  


And as so often happens, when I start to want to point fingers when reading the Bible, the finger comes back around to me.  I am thankful that as a Christian, I am no longer under the law but that the law has been fulfilled through Jesus.  He is the ultimate sacrifice for the atonement of sin.  It is because of His sacrifice that I can be accepted as a child of God.  I can trust Him to heal my hurts and to forgive my sins, and even to point out the ones that I don't recognize.  I do have a responsibility though - to forgive those who trespass against me.  He is there to help me do that in His strength when it seems too much for me.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Praise God that He is the God who Sees, Heals, Rescues and Restores!  My hope is that someone else who reads this may also be encouraged. 

Welcome 2011!

It is that time of year again. The year is new and fresh and crisp and clean and I am again optimistic that I can make some positive changes this year. Those of you who know me are not surprised that I am setting some goals for the new year. Without concrete goals to work towards, I would get much less accomplished. Last year I set goals for biking and other exercise and a weight loss goal. I exercised but I gained weight. Not great. Could have been worse, but not the result I was hoping for.

They say to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result is a good definition of insanity. So, this year I am switching things up and trying again. The overall goals are the same - to exercise and lose weight. Looking over the past year I see my tendency to procrastinate sneaking up on me. When biking season was almost over and my goal was unmet, I started taking longer rides. That is great, but really I want to be more consistent and not just pulling it off at the last minute. Plus, there is nothing like a 20+ mile bike ride to make me think that I have earned the right to eat whatever I want! So this year instead of mileage goals I am going to set work out goals. That will also eliminate the problem of trying to convert swimming to miles on my feet! My workout goal is 4 times a week for 50 weeks = 200 work outs. A work out is at least 30 minutes in length. 2 work outs are possible in one day, a strength training + walk for example or perhaps a 30 mile bike ride would be considered twice a normal bike workout. The goal though is to exercise more consistently not to stack workouts because I am procrastinating! I also want to incorporate more strength training. I am really enjoying BodyPump. It makes me feel strong and empowered. I like having someone tell me what to do when it comes to lifting and to see others sweating it out with me! Twice a week is a good goal, but I think that might be hard during biking season so I hope to strength train once per week at a minimum because I have read that is the minimum required to prevent losing strength. So far I have been 10 times. I started around Thanksgiving. I have increased my weights and am starting to feel like my abs are in there somewhere, so I think it is a positive change for me. Not to mention that muscles burn more calories than fat and I need the help!

As for losing weight, I haven't figured out anything else to do except to actually do what I know I need to. More fruits and veggies, and less white flour and sugar. yada yada yada. I have come up with a few motivating treats though - 5 pounds loss and I treat myself to a pedicure. 10 pounds gone and I get a massage. 15 pounds gone and I buy new jeans. 20 pounds and I faint! hahaha! :)

Wish me luck! I am counting on you to hold me accountable! Happy New Year!

2010 Goal Recap and Results

Well, I guess it is time to recap the 2010 year and see how I did compared to the goals I set last year about this time. Do you want the good news first, or the bad news first? The bad news? Okay, but it is pretty bad. I did not lose any weight. In fact, it was worse than that - I gained 5 pounds. Not the result I was hoping for when I made my 2010 resolutions. The bright side is that if I hadn't done as well on the exercise goals, it could have been much uglier!

On the exercise front the results were somewhat mixed but at least positive overall. I biked 1231 miles out of a goal of 1200 miles. I walked or ran or "wogged" 140 miles out of a goal of 250 miles on my feet. I also swam 5.1 miles, logged 8 hours on the elliptical machine and went to BodyPump (group lifting class set to music) 9 times (starting in late November). Those also "count" as miles on my feet but are not so easy to convert. I think I came close to my miles on my feet goal but probably came up a bit shy.

My high point in exercise goals was the 5K that I completed with my sister on May 8th. I still can't believe I ran the whole thing, especially since the training was not as smooth as I hoped. Our overall time was 38.23 minutes. I was very happy with that because the start was crowded and we did a lot of maneuvering, and there was no walking. As far as the abs, they are still hiding although with the start of BodyPump I am beginning to sense that they are in there somewhere screaming when I try to do crunches.

So, there you have the 2010 wrap-up. Now it is time to learn from the past and move forward! Welcome 2011!

August update on the New Year's Resolutions

Well, it is now August. I thought I'd better do a post about how those New Year's Resolutions are coming along. The short answer is that I am about a month behind but optimistic!

So far this year:

I have biked 642 miles out of goal of 1200.

I have jogged 66 miles and walked 59 miles for a total of 125 miles on my feet out of my goal of 250.

I have done 4 miles on the elliptical machine and 3 miles in the pool that need to be converted to "miles on my feet". I am thinking that should be worth about 20 miles, at least.

So, as for the exercise, I am still in the running to meet my goals. I prefer not to think about the weight goal, but I'll admit that my abs are still hiding and I still weigh exactly what I did on January 1st. The biggest test will be losing 15 pounds before 2011!

Here's to keeping myself accountable. Look for more "will she succeed?" posts nearer to the *ack* holidays!

Sometimes I preach - 2 Kings 16:1-19

I thought I might do something different today. Of course, that different thing might be making a blog post considering I have only posted 8 times before today! I have been reading through the Bible devotionally, and sometimes I read something that makes me think a bit more about how it is pertinent to life now. Maybe it happens when I have slept more soundly and am more awake at 6 AM to pay closer attention or maybe it is the Holy Spirit working. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17. I take that to mean that 2 Kings has application for me, even if the times were long ago and the practices somewhat foreign to our culture today. I thought I'd share with you the story and the questions that I began to consider after reading it. I urge you to read the story yourself because this is the condensed version according to Michelle, that admittedly does not have the clout of more established translations!

This is the story of Ahaz, king of Judah. He was an unfaithful king who was the son and grandson of relatively Godly kings. Ahaz sinned in the ways of Israel (who worshiped the golden calves at Bethel and Dan instead of worshiping God in the temple at Jerusalem as God had prescribed - this was in the period of the "divided kingdom" when Israel, the northern kingdom, and Judah, the southern kingdom were ruled separately) and also in sinned in the ways of the nations that the LORD had driven out of the promised land. He basically worshiped everybody, everywhere.

Judah was being attacked by the king of Aram and King Ahaz bought the protection of the king of Assyria by sending him the gold and silver from the temple. The king of Assyria defeated the king of Aram for Ahaz. King Ahaz went to Damascus to see the king of Assyria and while he was there was taken by the altar where the king of Assyria worshiped. Perhaps he thought that worshiping at such an altar would also make him powerful. He had plans drawn up to make an identical altar in Jerusalem. He sent the plans back to Uriah the priest and Uriah built it for the king. Then Ahaz used that altar to offer his sacrifices. He placed it at the LORD's temple and even moved the bronze altar of the LORD so that his Assyrian altar could have center stage. He also made changes around other parts of the temple area based on what he saw in Assyria. Then you have this curious comment in verse 15 "but I will use the bronze altar to ask questions of God." Followed by verse 16 that says that Uriah the priest did everything as king Ahaz commanded him.

So here is what I got to thinking: Do I have two altars? Is the place I go about my life, offering my daily sacrifices, a place that I have made for myself based on what I have seen in the life of a person that I want to emulate or am impressed by or seems to have what I want? Would I go someplace different to ask questions of God? Or do I live life and offer sacrifices based on what God has required of me according to His plan? Do I try to re-arrange what God has prescribed based on my preferences or the preferences of someone I respect? Do I give God a token place of worship off to the side in case I need Him if my plans aren't going as I expected?

Another question is who does the person that serves as a priest in my life take direction from? Is the priest staying true to the LORD or has he decided to serve another king instead? Can I see the difference? One more thing- do I remember to take each person individually instead of relying on what I know about their family? Each person chooses whom he will serve and sometimes they depart from their family, for good or for worse.

That is enough preaching for today. I hope it gives you something to think about too.

Failed 6 week challenge and next steps!

Well, I have avoided blogging because of the massive failure of my well intentioned 6 week challenge! I did lose a couple of pounds, but my eating quickly deteriorated. I blame stress and lack of self-control! :)

I have licked my wounds and am moving on to the next challenge. I should probably just start all over, because it was a good plan with poor execution, but Krissy enlisted me in a new challenge. We have signed up for a 5K on May 8th. Yes, this is the same 5K goal that I have had for over a year, but this time I have paid the entry fee and am feeling committed. I came close last year and then came a heel spur and the advent of biking weather, and I never quite made it. This time I figure that if Krissy can do it with a new baby, then I can do it.

I have started the training plan and it stinks so far. I have done run 1 minute and walk 2 minutes for a week and I am now on to running 1 minute and walking 1 minute. It used to be that I couldn't run because I ran out of breath, but now my problem seems to be the pounding of the pavement with my quite substantial weight! I think the best way to improve my running would be to lose 40 pounds, of course the best way to lose weight may just be to start running.... That is kinda like what I tell myself at the beginning of biking season each year - in order to look better in the spandex, you have to wear the spandex! :)

As far as the eating goes, I have given up chocolate for lent. This has had unintended negative consequences. I now eat more sweets trying to find the satisfaction that chocolate alone can bring! Admitting the problem is the first step. I also made a wheat and baking supply order so I have no excuse to keep me from at least eating whole grain bread.

So far this year, I have logged 32 miles and 4 elliptical machine workouts. I need to buckle down if I am going to meet my goals for this year. January and February were tough - lots of sickness and lots of very cold weather and snow. Now it is March - let the training begin!!

The New Year Begins!

I woke up this morning not as optimistic as I was last night! My final treat was a peppermint chip milkshake. Yum. I woke up hungry none-the-less. I started the day with a banana (1 fruit serving complete) and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread. My first nutritional surprise was that my strawberry preserves have high fructose corn syrup. Is that really necessary? Guess I should buy some fruit spread instead. I think I also learned that breakfast is one of my downfalls. I want to grab the first thing that I see because I am hungry, but often it is not a good choice. A Quaker Oats granola bar is just not a well-balanced breakfast even if it is washed down with coffee and perhaps preceded by a piece of candy.

That is as far as the New Year has come. Last night saw me in bed a half hour before the ball dropped. I was then awakened at 5:30 by Audrey complaining that her stomach hurt (an excuse perhaps to sleep with us?) and brought her to bed with us for some less restful sleep for one hour to be followed by nursing Kyle. I am a little tired. Planning to walk this afternoon when the temperature gets out of the teens. My shins are less sore and I am going to try my new shoes out on the road.

Hopefully I will be motivated enough to keep you updated. Maybe I'll become a blogger in 2010!! May you have a blessed New Year!!