Out of Habit & Heart

Reading of the Day: Leviticus 22-24

Leviticus 22:29: And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will.

God had a special plan & design in mind for every sacrifice & feast day He told the Israelites to have. Many were supposed to take place on certain days, for certain lengths of time, for many different reasons. And then, there were sacrifices of thanksgiving as described in the Scripture above. There wasn't much mentioned in this chapter regarding these other than offering at your own will & leaving none of it until the next day. Other than that, it was a voluntary offering of thankfulness unto The Lord! So while many things were done as a step-by-step process given by God, routine or habit, some were just supposed to be spontaneous acts of the heart! I thought of a marriage relationship. We love our spouses every day, even though some things are just done out of necessity, or habit, on a daily basis...but every once in a while, it's nice to get a little surprise, or step out on a "leap of love" going out of our way to make that person happy. Just because a marriage is a contract, that doesn't mean we don't put our heart into all we do (even the mundane habits of every day life)! God wanted the Israelites to WANT to do what they HAD to do. To be in love with God in the habits of daily life, and in the spontaneous acts of the heart. We have to have a little bit of both in our earthly relationships, and so we have to have a little bit of both with God too! God doesn't just want us to wait for Him to say "sacrifice." He wants us to give on our own, voluntarily! A relationship goes both ways! Let's keep this in mind on our walk with God...to not just do things out of habit, but to do it out of heart! Also, just as the Israelites, leave none of it for the next day-think of something new! We can't live off of previous sacrifices of thanksgiving! God always blesses us with endless ways to thank Him, and we can continue to praise Him daily for that, out of both habit AND heart!