It's been 12 years since I read Leviticus all the way through, and the thing that stood out to me this time was the cost of holiness, the cost of attempting to live according to the dictates of the law. In an era when livestock equaled wealth, God told his people to set aside sheep and cattle for him. Not just to make a special feast in his honor, but to be burned entire. The law also says, Hey, don't try to sneak in your ugly diseased livestock; bring the good ones.
I wonder if it seemed painfully extravagant to them, or if it seemed right and just.
It makes me think about the ultimate cost of holiness, of God's own blood poured out. It makes me think of the times I have sailed on past the sacrifice that should stop me in my tracks, the most extravagant sacrifice imaginable.
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