“No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire. 12 As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the Lord, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma. 13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Leviticus 2:11-13
God of all Creation,
Today, Sunday, we offer our sacrifice of praise and bring our first thanksgiving of the week! It is harvest time and many of us will be bringing gifts of food for food banks and fresh fruit and vegetables just to make the church reflect Your bounty.
Now I am not one for turning to Leviticus for encouragement in Bible reading or for assurance or direction. Its not a book Lord I have memorised verses from! But I did find verse 13 interesting, while we are on the subject of salt. Salt should never be lacking from any or all offerings.
From what I can read about it Lord, a salt covenant, was a binding covenant made by sharing salt in some way, usually eating it. It symbolised sincerity. Is it that You do not wants people to “just go through the motions” of worshiping, without being sincere? I suppose it is like empty flattery its quite insulting. You want our hearts to be right with You so then we can make honest sacrifices of praise and worship and honest willing offerings of our finances and service.
No offerings were or are sufficient to cover sin. They are a response to You, who gave Your only Son, the perfect sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:12). The offerings we make are a sincere response to what You have done for us and do for us daily.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
An outline to prompt Your own prayers . . . .
Lord God,
Today we pray for family, friends, neighbours, our church family.
For Putin and the end of war in Ukraine.
For help, relief and comfort for those affected by natural disasters in Libya and Morocco.
For Your justice and comfort for those who have lost a loved one through violence and murder.
For our Government and the King for all they need to lead this country and set and example of commitment, honesty and dedicated service.
For those projects our church prays for and supports, that much good would result..
For those on missions overseas that they would see miracles and be blessed themselves.
For my own needs and hopes and direction for the day ahead.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Lord God,
Worship Saturday 7th October 2023
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be and accept our offering of thanks.
Come, ye thankful people, come,
raise the song of harvest home;
all is safely gathered in,
ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide
for our wants to be supplied;
come to God’s own temple, come,
raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field,
fruit as praise to God we yield;
wheat and tares together sown
are to joy or sorrow grown;
first the blade and then the ear,
then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we
wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord our God shall come,
and shall take the harvest home;
from the field shall in that day
all offenses purge away,
giving angels charge at last
in the fire the tares to cast;
but the fruitful ears to store
in the garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come,
bring thy final harvest home;
gather thou thy people in,
free from sorrow, free from sin,
there, forever purified,
in thy presence to abide;
come, with all thine angels, come,
raise the glorious harvest home.
Lyrics: Henry Alford