I mentioned in a recent post that I wanted to share about burnt offerings and it's been on my heart for awhile now but my schedule has just been too overwhelming recently. Before I completely forget what I wanted to say, I'm going to share it in this post although I haven't really thought it out enough yet.
The bible passage is from Leviticus 6:8-13 when God was instructing Moses on the burnt offering that is to be offered.
I won't copy and paste the whole passage but the lines that jumped out at me were:
"The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar."
"The priest ... shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar ..."
"The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out."
"The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out."
There have been many times when I've left camp, a conference or an event completely on fire for God only to start losing steam weeks or months later. I wasn't able to keep the fire burning. And in this short passage, three times it is written that the fire must be kept burning and must not go out.
Relating it to our lives, how do we stay on fire? How do we step on the altar as living sacrifices, put fresh wood as an offering to God and not crawl off the altar when it gets too hot or uncomfortable?
There were two things that spoke to my heart when I read this bible passage.
Firstly, fresh wood has to be added daily. Burnt offerings don't continue to burn forever on old fuel because the fire consumes what is on the altar. That means that there are things in our lives that we need to bring to the altar regularly; It doesn't mean that something sacrificed in the past will continue to be 'sacrificed' in our lives if we don't continue to lay it down.
Secondly, the ashes have to be removed from the altar or it will get in the way of the fire continuing to burn. Once offerings have become ashes, there's no point trying to burn it again. Many times we like to look back at the things we have done, the sacrifices we have made, and the times that God has used us powerfully for his purposes.
We forget to rely on new mercies everyday and instead try to rely on our past experiences and sometimes even our 'past anointing' to carry us through new periods of our lives. Just because God moved in our lives in a mighty way in the past does not mean that He will continue to do so in exactly the same way today, especially if we neglect to bring fresh offerings to the altar.
Don't hold on to the past. The past reminds us of God's faithfulness but it doesn't give us the power and anointing for the present. The only thing we can continue to hold on to are the promises that God has placed over us that are yet to come to pass in the physical.
Seek fresh manna, fresh anointing, fresh purpose for today. Forgetting what lies behind and just pressing on towards the goal, fully focused on our Lord, Jesus. Don't try to fall back on past accomplishments and achievements, past anointing or past experiences with God.
Although He is unchanging forever, He has something new for us every single day as He carries us through new seasons, from glory to glory. Don't restrict Him by looking backwards but realise that He has a wonderful plan and purpose for our life that will come to pass, and that is coming to pass.
I apologise if my points above haven't been as concise as I originally planned and hope that it captures the essence of what I wanted to share.
Keep the fire burning.
Put fresh wood...fresh offerings.
Clear away the ashes.
Don't let the fire go out.
Labels: Devotionals, General, inspiration, Thoughts, Verses
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