Wave Offering

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I’m studying the Feast of First Fruits this week in my Bible Study time. One of the key elements of this feast celebration was the Wave Offering where the priests would wave a sheaf of barley before the Lord so the Lord would accept it. The primary purpose of the offering was so the Israelites would outwardly acknowledge that everything they have, explicitly the harvest in this case, came from God. They waved the offering before God as a way of saying, “This is Yours to do with as You see fit.”

In a way, God asks us to offer a Wave Offering every day. He wants us to wake up in the morning and say, “Here’s my day. It is Yours to do with as You see fit.” Many days, I fail to do that and on those days, I often feel like I failed to accomplish much of importance. On the other hand, on days when I do wake up and give the whole day and all of me to God, it might be an ordinary day of laundry, dishes, Bible Study preparation, and whatever, but it feels different. It feels fulfilling. It feels like I accomplished something.

On a bigger scale, when I give my whole life over to God for Him to do what He wants, I also feel a sense of accomplishment. For instance, some days I write a blog article without really praying about it much or giving it to God. The blog still might be good, entertaining, challenging, or have some benefit for a reader. However, I don’t feel as satisfied. So I try to make it a point to pray before I write a blog entry. It may not accomplish any more than on the days I don’t pray, but it gives me the satisfaction that I did my best for God, that I offered Him my writing skills and He was able to use it to fulfill His purposes.

It’s like Moses offering up his staff for God when God asked him to throw it down on the ground and it became a serpent. This was a type of Wave Offering also. Moses did what God asked. And when asked to Moses also followed God’s command to reach out and pick the staff up again. Back in Moses’ hand, the serpent became the “rod of God.” It was able to accomplish many fine purposes for God from parting the Red Sea to getting water from a rock in the wilderness. Moses offered it up and God was able to use it to accomplish His great purposes.

So today, and each day I write, whether it’s for a blog article or a book, I offer up my writing skills to God for Him to use to fulfill His purposes. I pray that this blog meets a need and that God can use it to fulfill His purposes. I make my Wave Offering today.

Brighter and More Beautiful

What does it mean to become more like Christ? What does it mean to be transfigured into the new creatures God wants us to become?

In 2 Corinthians 3:18, in The Message, it says,

"And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him."

Brighter and more beautiful. That’s what it means to become more like Christ, more like God. As Jesus was transfigured into something more than human, so ought we be transformed into more than our current state. I know that this is not an overnight process. It takes time – possibly lots of time, but I like the idea that as God enters our lives and we get to know Him better a little bit at a time, we become more like Him. Thus we also become brighter and more beautiful a little bit at a time.

When I think about becoming more beautiful as I age, and become possibly less physically attractive, I realize that the beauty talked about in this verse is not skin deep. It’s much deeper than that. It’s soul deep. It’s about becoming a more beautiful human being a little at a time. It’s about changing the way I interact with the world and with other people. It’s about changing my demeanor toward others and toward the issues I confront in my life.

I can remain unchanged, but then I would have to question whether I’m having regular encounters with God. 2 Corinthians 3:18 guarantees change in our lives as more of God enters into our lives. So, if I’m not changing, if I’m not becoming brighter and more beautiful, then I need to determine if more of God is entering into my life on a regular basis. I can make sure this is happening by doing a few relatively simple things.

I can read God’s Word, the Bible, daily. I can try to make an application from what I read. Applying the instructions of God to my life is what makes change possible. It might be something as simple as saying a prayer or it might be something as difficult as asking for forgiveness from someone I have offended. Either way, doing something different makes me a brighter person and helps me grow more beautiful a little bit at a time. That’s what I want. To be transformed a little bit at a time into someone who looks more like God, ever increasingly brighter and more beautiful, as God enters my life and I become more like Him.