Give what you have!

Based on Leviticus 14, Matthew 26:51-75

This chapter of Leviticus talked about the sacrifices & offerings given after a cleansing from leprosy has taken place. There seemed to be so many listed, with different processes of what to do with the blood and how to handle it with each animal...but one thing was always in common: the act of giving it up to God!

"And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the Lord . This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing." Leviticus 14:30-32

This particular law was for someone who was too poor to give the normal required sacrifice...but still, they could give something! This is different than Cain and Abel though, where one sacrifice was one of self-will and the other of God's Will. In the above case, God still had a requirement, but it was attainable even for the poorest. We can't give whatever we want, but God requires what we are able to give...as long as we have that one thing in common: the desire to give from the heart! The heart is really all He requires, and we all have that!

"Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?"
Matthew 26:64-68

If this wasn't sad enough, so many hearts turned away from Jesus, imagine the cold heart of one who was closest to him? Judas betrayed Him, being one of the 12, but Peter, one of the closest of the 12, denied Him 3 times...that might be worse than the slaps in the face, although all people are His creation...His own rejected Him...they turned their hearts away...and although Peter wept and turned his heart back to Jesus, that moment was truly a deep rejection. Peter must have felt like Judas for a moment...

"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly." Matthew 26:75.

From Old to New Testament, it's a giving heart that matters! A willingness to give in to God, give into His Word, give into His plan for salvation, and give Him our best, all the way to Heaven! What we have is enough, and that's because we all have a heart!