Surprising Grace

And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the LORD. If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. — Leviticus 7:11–13 ESV

Surprisingly, the first time thanksgiving is ever mentioned in Scripture, it’s to note that the thanksgiving offering is part of the peace offering.

Could it be that no one receives the peace of God without giving thanks to God?

Is thankfulness really but the deep, contented breath of peacefulness? Is this why God asks us to look for glimpses of grace to give thanks for even when things look dark? When there doesn’t seem to be much to give thanks for?

There were to be ten offerings of bread in every thank offering of the Israelites. The first were like crackers. The second like wafers. These were known for their thinness. This was the order of thanks. The thanks began for the thin things, the wafer things that almost weren’t, and the way the people of God gave thanks was first to give thanks for even the meager and unlikely.

Then it came, thanks for the leavened bread. Why would leaven, yeast — that which is seen in Scripture as impure, unwanted — be included as part of the thank offering?

• God always holds space for all our authentic lament. He then invites us to make space for authentic thanks through all things,

because our God is a God kneading all things into a bread that sustains. To bring the sacrifice of thanksgiving means thanking God for everything because He is benevolent. A sacrifice of thanks lays down our perspective and raises hands both in honest lament and heartfelt praise — always. A sacrifice is, by definition, not an easy thing — but it is a sacred thing.

There is this: We give thanks to God not because of how we feel but because of who He is. It’s counting the ways He still loves. This is what keeps multiplying joy.

The life that keeps counting blessings discovers it’s yielding more beauty than it seems.

God, move me to know it afresh today: the life that counts blessings discovers it’s yielding much more beauty than it seems. And my life yields most when I yield most to You. 

Excerpted with permission from Gifts and Gratitudes by Ann Voskamp, copyright Ann Voskamp.

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Your Turn

What better day to offer our thanks to God than today? What better day to receive His peace? Today, let’s offer a sacrifice of thanks in honest lament and heartfelt praise! HAPPY THANKSGIVING from all of us at Devotionals Daily!