Leviticus 17:1-6 is one of those passages that most of us breeze past. Sacrificing goats in fields? Cool, Old Testament Israel, do your thing.
But tucked in this ancient text is a principle I think we desperately need today.
God told Israel, “If anyone kills an ox, lamb, or goat anywhere except at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, they’re guilty of bloodshed.” In other words: if you’re sacrificing wherever you want, you’re missing the point entirely.
Here’s why this matters:
Israel wasn’t surrounded by people who didn’t sacrifice. They were surrounded by people who sacrificed everywhere.
Under trees, on hills, in fields – to gods of rain and war and harvest.
Sacrifice wasn’t the issue.
Where and to Whom they sacrificed was the issue.
God was saying:
“You don’t get to worship Me on your own terms. You come to Me the way I’ve asked you to. You bring your offering to My house, to My presence, with My people.”
Ouch. Because here’s the truth:
We’re great at bringing sacrifices in the fields of convenience.
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“God, I’ll serve You…as long as it fits my timeline.”
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“God, I’ll give…if there’s enough left over.”
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“God, I’ll worship…when I feel like it.”
But sacrifice without obedience isn’t worship. It’s self-preservation with religious wrapping paper.
Jesus changes everything.
Yes, Jesus became the final sacrifice. The veil is torn, the altar is accessible, and there is no condemnation for those in Christ. But He didn’t set us free so we could build altars in random fields of our choosing. He set us free so we could worship in spirit and truth – fully surrendered, fully His.
So here’s my question for you (and me) today:
Am I worshipping Him my way, or His way?
Am I bringing my life to His altar, or building one out of convenience?
Because at the end of the day: Sacrifice without surrender is just noise. Worship without obedience is just performance.
Let this be your prayer, and my prayer, today… “Lord, strip me of my convenient altars. Teach me to bring everything to You – Your way, not mine.”
That’s where transformation lives.
Onward,
Chari