Leviticus 6 Devotional

A Fire Kept Burning

“The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not be extinguished.”Leviticus 6:13 (BSB)

The chapter opens with sins against a neighbor: lying about something left in your care, extortion, keeping lost property and swearing falsely about it. God calls each of these unfaithfulness against the LORD himself (6:2-3). The guilty person must repay in full, add a fifth, and do it the day he admits his guilt (6:4-5). Forgiveness from God did not cancel the duty to make things right with the one who was wronged.

Then the instructions turn to the priests, and one command comes three times: the fire on the altar must be kept burning and never go out (6:9, 12-13). Each morning the priest adds wood. God meant there never to be a moment when his people's altar stood cold. After Jesus welcomed Zacchaeus, the tax collector promised to repay anyone he had cheated four times over (Luke 19:8-9). Welcome came first, and restitution flowed from it. Because God's welcome never lapses, you can be quick to make right what you have taken from someone.

To think about: Is there someone you have wronged, in money, words, or trust, whom you could begin to make things right with this week?