If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me.

-Matthew 10:39 (the Message)

Friday 30 March 2012


Does God view the offering of a single, common person who has chosen out of devotion to follow Him as more pleasing than that of a ruler, priest or group of people.  This would apply significance to our choice to follow God devoutly in our personal lives. This does not make the offering of the priest or leader insignificant, just expected. It is like the story of the prodigal son. The son who did not run away showed by his actions his devotion to his father and the inability of the temptations of “freedom”, “pleasure” and “splendor” to turn him away from his devotion. His continued presence in the home became expected and triumph over temptation was never necessary, thus there was nothing to celebrate. In the passage being studied, the leaders and the priests have chosen roles that the offerings are expected regardless of whether that person wants to make them or not. In addition, the congregation as a whole may not in its entirety be sincere in the offering. They may be attending solely to avoid being singled out. They are not turning away from a sinful life by making the offering, instead they are doing it out of duty. Back to the story of the prodigal, the second son, by leaving, showed that he would entertain the idea of not living in the house. He showed that he could in fact be won over by temptation. His choice to return and remain at home was with the knowledge of what the other option could be. Returning and remaining was to be celebrated as he made the choice to reject “freedom” and “pleasure” and “splendor” over and over again each morning. It would be like having a modern conversion experience over and over again every time a person discovered they had sinned. Much could be said about the accuracy and legitimacy of this speculation, but for the purpose of this study, it will be left purely as that. Speculation and contemplation of what this could mean in the absence of direct scriptural confirmation or rejection of the exploration.