Leviticus 3

More animal slaughtering fun. For the fellowship offering, whether one brings a lamb, goat, or herd animal, the procedure is mostly the same. The offerer and priest must remove the internal organs, fat, kidneys, and the "long lobe of the liver" (verses 4, 10, and 15) and set them ablaze. Why does God single out the liver and kidneys? Why not specify the pancreas, gall bladder, or small intestine? I admit that I'm not that adventurous an eater, and though I must have had liver at some point, I don't remember ever eating kidneys. I do know that people eat them, though I can't help wondering if they taste like kidney beans. Maybe out of all the organs, the kidneys and liver are the "tastiest," and thus offer the most pleasing aroma to God.

Then, of course, there is the fat. I've always found animal fat by itself a little disgusting. It looks rather nasty, and the texture is unappealingly rubbery as well. Is there anyone who prefers those little white fat globs on ribs to the actual meat? But of course, fat in the meat infuses the flesh with all that delectability. It's actually similar to butter in that respect: few people would eat a stick of butter by itself, but mixed in with other ingredients, it's delicious.

However, in verse 17, God states, "You must not eat any fat or any blood." As I've written before, only vampires would have found the latter stipulation exasperatingly stringent, but not being able to eat fat? At all? Might as well not eat meat or dairy at all. Of course, I lack the expertise to know if this verse really means all fat--after all, it might just mean the aforementioned chunks of fat that you find on ribs and certain other cuts of meat. Then again, maybe this was a way for God to motivate the Israelites to carry out productive pursuits instead of just standing around chewing the fat.

I apologize for that bad pun, so let's move on to the whole purpose of these offerings: fellowship. Fellowship seems like a word that only Christians use frequently; most others just say, "hanging out." And even then, fellowship brings to my mind that specific time after a worship service when everyone stands around and talks while blocking access to the snack table. Of course, fellowship can take many other forms, such as standing around asking each other where we want to eat and responding, "I don't care." But although fellowship with others isn't a foreign concept, fellowship with God is…not a foreign concept to me either, but it's one of many that I often gloss over. We should delight in being able to "hang out" with God, bringing to Him not just our grievous blunders, anguish, and empyrean triumphs, but also those everyday thoughts that we share with our closest friends. I shouldn't be afraid to talk with God about the seemingly inconsequential matters of life or quirky observations. He is the creator of the universe, but He is also our closest friend.