Along with his fellowship offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of bread made with yeast. - Leviticus 7:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 5, 2012): Leviticus 7

I love to read Dean Koontz novels. I also like Stephen King. That surprises some people. But I think what I like about them is that there is a clearly defined sense of good and evil in the books. It is clear delineation that is absent in the real world. But Koontz also has a weird view of Christianity. The phrases that repeat in his writing are phrases that would the lead the reader to believe that Christians are anti-fun.

Admittedly, sometimes it seems that the church has more than its share of people that seem to have the gift of criticism. For these people, nothing is ever seems to be praiseworthy. And sometimes I wonder if deep down they believe that life is not here to be enjoyed. It is the stereotype that people seem to have of the church. We are supposed to be a people who are committed to an existence without fun, walking around life with frowns on our faces. And we are critical because there is nothing in this world that has the capacity for good. This life consists of our race toward destruction. And at the end of it all, it is only our souls that will survive. So we seem to carefully guard our souls by protecting our bodies from anything that might be fun.

  

But it is not a biblical idea. In this passage, the people are instructed to make cakes of bread with yeast for the fellowship offering. The only problem with the command was that yeast was forbidden for any sacrifice destined for the altar. Yeast was not appropriate for anything that was to be burned in sacrifice. But except for certain times of the year, it was appropriate to be eaten.

The offering of cakes of bread with yeast was given to the people for no other reason than to provide for the priests food that was pleasurable to eat. God’s concern for his priests was that there would be enjoyment in their lives. Enjoyment in life has always been part of God’s plan for us.

The most attractive Christians that I know are the ones that are not afraid to enjoy life. They are free with their praise and criticism from them is rare. And in their enjoyment, I think they model what God designed for us as we live. The stereotype of the sad, critical Christian needs to die – it just does not fit who God desires us to be.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 8