Sacrifice

 Sacrifice 

 

Something given up and offered as a gift 

 

Have you ever given up something important to you just to make someone smile? Maybe there was a time when you gave your brother or sister the biggest piece of cake, even though you really wanted it. 

That would be a sacrifice. The Israelites offered sacrifices to God to show their love for Him and to become closer to Him. They gave up some of their nicest things – their best bread and animals – as gifts for God. He had, after all, provided everything they had. This was a way to say, “Thank You, God!”

The Israelites set up an altar fire, which was kind of like a cooking grill. They’d put their gifts on the altar fire, and those gifts would become a smoke that floated up to the sky. God would receive them like sweet-smelling presents. Just think how happy someone is when you give them a present. The Israelites presents for God made Him happy too!

There were also special sacrifices to deal with sin. The punishment for sin was death, but God didn’t want that for His people. So He let the blood of animal ‘cross over’ the sin. The animal died in the place of the people who sinned.

These sacrifices didn’t completely solve the problem of sin. They were a little bit like sticky plasters – they covered over sins but didn’t take them away. They fixed the sin problem for the moment, but a better sacrifice would come later that would fix it forever – when Jesus died for our sins. What He did on the cross really does take away our sins. 

 

 

Leviticus 9

 

The first time the Israelites made sacrifices, everyone brought animals and grains to Aaron. He was a priest, which meant he was the leader for sacrifices. When he put the people‘a offerings in the altar fire, something surprising happened. God sent fire from the sky and completely burned up all the offerings on the altar. This showed that He accepted their gifts! The people shouted with joy and bowed down in worship. 

 

 

We don’t need to offer the same kind of sacrifice the Israelites did, but we still want to give God gifts. If you have any money, you could put it in the offering at church. Or you could give a favourite to someone who doesn’t have many. God says that giving gifts to people who need them is just like giving gifts to Him. 

 

 

God, I want to make sacrifices to show You my love.