Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2020 17:12:44 GMT -5
Leave a Little Behind By: John Blase
Click on this link for the audio message
Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.
Leviticus 23:22
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Leviticus 23:15–22
Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and occasionally a half-dollar. That’s what you’d find on the nightstand beside his bed. He’d empty his pockets each evening and leave the contents there, for he knew eventually they’d come to visit—they being his grandchildren. Over the years the kids learned to visit his nightstand as soon as they arrived. He could have put all that spare change in a coin bank or even stored it away in a savings account. But he didn’t. He delighted in leaving it there for the little ones, the precious guests in his home.
A similar mindset is what’s expressed in Leviticus 23 when it comes to bringing in the harvest from the land. God, via Moses, told the people something quite counterintuitive: not to “reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest” (v. 22). Essentially, He said, “Leave a little behind.” This instruction reminded the people that God was behind the harvest in the first place, and that He used His people to provide for those of little account (the strangers in the land).
Such thinking is definitely not the norm in our world. But it’s exactly the kind of mindset that will characterize the grateful sons and daughters of God. He delights in a generous heart. And that often comes through you and me.
Reflect & Pray
What’s your first reaction to the thought of “leaving a little behind”? What’s one way you could practice such thankful generosity toward the poor or the strangers in your life?
Loving God, thank You for Your provision in my life. Give me eyes to see ways in which I can share with others, especially those poor and in need.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Today’s passage from Leviticus 23:15-22 refers to one of the annual Jewish festivals known as the Feast (or Festival) of Weeks. This Old Testament festival began fifty days after the Festival of First Fruits (see vv. 9-14). It included animal sacrifices and grain offerings and was a time of rejoicing and thanksgiving to God for His great bounty. It was also an occasion to be generous with the poor (v. 22). In the New Testament, it’s referred to as Pentecost (Acts 2:1; from the Greek word for fiftieth), the day when the Holy Spirit came upon 120 believers in Jesus gathered in an upper room (1:15). Alyson Kieda
Leviticus 23:15-22
King James Version
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
Click on this link for the audio message
Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.
Leviticus 23:22
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Leviticus 23:15–22
Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and occasionally a half-dollar. That’s what you’d find on the nightstand beside his bed. He’d empty his pockets each evening and leave the contents there, for he knew eventually they’d come to visit—they being his grandchildren. Over the years the kids learned to visit his nightstand as soon as they arrived. He could have put all that spare change in a coin bank or even stored it away in a savings account. But he didn’t. He delighted in leaving it there for the little ones, the precious guests in his home.
A similar mindset is what’s expressed in Leviticus 23 when it comes to bringing in the harvest from the land. God, via Moses, told the people something quite counterintuitive: not to “reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest” (v. 22). Essentially, He said, “Leave a little behind.” This instruction reminded the people that God was behind the harvest in the first place, and that He used His people to provide for those of little account (the strangers in the land).
Such thinking is definitely not the norm in our world. But it’s exactly the kind of mindset that will characterize the grateful sons and daughters of God. He delights in a generous heart. And that often comes through you and me.
Reflect & Pray
What’s your first reaction to the thought of “leaving a little behind”? What’s one way you could practice such thankful generosity toward the poor or the strangers in your life?
Loving God, thank You for Your provision in my life. Give me eyes to see ways in which I can share with others, especially those poor and in need.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Today’s passage from Leviticus 23:15-22 refers to one of the annual Jewish festivals known as the Feast (or Festival) of Weeks. This Old Testament festival began fifty days after the Festival of First Fruits (see vv. 9-14). It included animal sacrifices and grain offerings and was a time of rejoicing and thanksgiving to God for His great bounty. It was also an occasion to be generous with the poor (v. 22). In the New Testament, it’s referred to as Pentecost (Acts 2:1; from the Greek word for fiftieth), the day when the Holy Spirit came upon 120 believers in Jesus gathered in an upper room (1:15). Alyson Kieda
Leviticus 23:15-22
King James Version
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.