Shavua Tov! This week's Torah portion is called Vayikra, which starts with the first words of the book of Leviticus, "And He called." 

In the first 5 chapters of Leviticus, we begin to learn how to bring an acceptable offering to YHWH.

One time, back in my Baptist days, I heard an excellent sermon. The pastor pointed out that an acceptable offering to YHWH was:

Without blemish (Leviticus 1:3)
Given voluntarily (Leviticus 1:3)
Dead (Leviticus 1:5)
Broken (Leviticus 1:6)
Complete (Leviticus 1:9)

He then took us to the book of Romans 12:1, where we learned that we were to present our bodies as a "living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" or act of worship to YHWH.

We were to live lives that were without blemish, given voluntarily to God, dead to sin, broken in repentance, and offered completely to Him.

We could do this by not being conformed to this world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). This was God's good, acceptable, and perfect will for our lives.

I still think about that sermon. So often I am careless about becoming unclean, whether outwardly or inside my heart. I give my life to God grudgingly. I die to sin, only to help it get resurrected again the next day. I repent in word only, not from the heart and with my actions. And I don't trust God enough to give everything to Him, loving Him with all my heart, soul, and mind.

May I stay on the altar, my life a living sacrifice to Him!

Recently when our family was fighting a lot of colds, and life was especially busy, we got a bit behind in our schooling. I was lying in bed one morning, trying to figure out how to keep school going even during busy times.

I remembered the words of the Shema, and I started to think about how these verses could help give my kids an excellent education, even when life was crazy.