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Day 33, or February 2nd. Offerings from Thoughtless

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Followers. Our thoughts today are rooted in Leviticus

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chapter 5, verses 15 and 16. When anyone is unfaithful

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to the Lord by sinning unintentionally, they

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are to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from

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the flock, one without defect. They must make

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restitution for what they have failed to do and

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pay an additional penalty of a fifth of its value.

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First the big picture surrounding these verses,

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there are two sacrifices designed specifically

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for thoughtless actions and words first there

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is a sin offering which was to be offered for

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those unthinking and often hurtful sins we all

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commit when we act or speak before our brain

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is in gear The second one, the guilt offering,

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was once again for sins that needed to be forgiven,

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but which could be partially rectified and therefore

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required positive action from the sinner. Chapter

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5, verse 16, makes it very clear when a penalty

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payment is required from the sinner, as well

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as a sacrifice to God for their own forgiveness.

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So it wasn't simply a matter of sinning and then

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offering a sacrifice. That was insufficient.

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There had to be personal restitution wherever

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possible. Making an effort to put right a wrong

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was very important. And now our action step for

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today. Saying sorry is not enough. You have to

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mean it. In the book of Leviticus, God goes even

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further by adding the idea of restitution or

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compensation, saying sorry and being genuine

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plus making a contribution to the person sinned

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against. Many think that this is a modern concept

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today, but it's really ancient. It is not part

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of our compensation culture, which is a distortion

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of the original, but it's part of God's ancient

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law. In the words of the song, Sorry can be the

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hardest word. However, paying compensation can

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be even harder. In the New Testament, Zacchaeus

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in Luke chapter 19 offers to pay 400 % compensation

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when 20 % would have been sufficient. It's a

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sure sign of salvation when we are generous beyond

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the legal requirements.