We know the Lord always deserves the best, but does He keep the best for Himself?
As we meditate on the peace offering in Leviticus 3, we see the priests were to make sure that two specific parts of the sacrifice were given to the Lord. “Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.…The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,…and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar…a sweet aroma to the Lord” (vv 2-5). So the blood and the fat are featured in this offering. The blood is the LIFE of the offering and was to be sprinkled “all around on the altar.” The fat was the ENERGY of the offering and was to be burned “on the altar.” These were considered the choicest parts of the animal. Now without question God deserves the best. But in requiring the blood and fat to be offered to Him alone (see v 17), was He keeping the best back from the offerer? Did God need the blood and the fat? Of course not; it was we who needed it! The blood was the basis of the offerer’s redemption, for “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb 9:22). Sprinkled on the altar, it was a public display of God’s satisfaction with the value of the offering on behalf of the offerer. And the fat? When the fire ignited it, it became “a sweet aroma to the Lord.” The fat was the basis of the offerer’s acceptance with the Lord. What we give to God He keeps for us. So, said Jesus, “Whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk 8:35). Thus Paul’s ringing declaration: “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim 1:12). God is not a taker; He is the giver of every good and perfect gift (Jas 1:17)!