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Topic:The Secret of Peace
The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.
Leviticus 7:15
Isn’t that strange? You could eat the flesh on the day you offered it if it was an offering of thanksgiving for some particular thing. Or if it was just a general expression of your gratitude toward God you could save some of it for the second day. But under no circumstances were you ever to eat of the flesh of that peace offering on the third day. It had to be burned with fire. If you tried to eat any of it, that was an abomination unto God.
Now, what is God saying here? Well, it is a very practical truth. He is saying that there must be no separation between the peace that you feel and the source of that peace, the sacrifice which provided it. You must not separate the two. In other words, you must not depend upon the feelings of peace that are given to you. Don’t try to live on those. Once peace is given as a result of trusting the work of Jesus Christ on your behalf don’t just say, Ah, now I feel much better! I think I can go on now, and tomorrow I’ll just expect this peace still to be here and I’ll reckon on that. Don’t shift your dependence from the One who gives peace, to the feeling that is produced.
What a practical warning that is! — because we all tend to do this, don’t we? As soon as the load is lifted we think, Well, everything’s fine now. I’ll shift back now and go on, on my own. But if you try that, within two days you are right back into the same mess again, with a troubled heart. No, there is only one source from which peace can come. It comes by reckoning upon the wisdom and the love and the affection and the power of a risen Lord who, at work in you, is able to handle your situation and work it out in ways that you can’t anticipate or even dream, if you will put it into his hands. That doesn’t mean simply to forget it — you may be part of the solution. God’s way of working it out may be to use you. But you don’t know when he may want to use you. Just stand ready and he will let you know. But the responsibility of working it out is no longer yours. It is God’s. That is the secret of peace.
Thank you, Father, for truths taught through these Old Testament sacrifices. Help me to remember that peace will only come as I trust in the sacrifice that made peace with you possible.
Life Application
Peace that endures is rooted and grounded in the character and work of Jesus Christ. What does that suggest about times when peace feels elusive and fears are overwhelming?
