God Loves the Fat

As a child, I was taught to give God my best. We wore our “Sunday clothes” to church, made sure our hair was clean and shiny, and polished our shoes on Saturday night so they would sparkle on Sunday. All six of us children were given money for Sunday School, at least until we started helping Daddy with a job, then we took tithe off our meager earnings. We were taught to honor God with our best.

The hymn “Give of Your Best to the Master” by Mrs. Charles Barnard sums up my understanding that God wants and deserves my best. The third verse begins with “Give of your best to the Master, naught else is worthy His love. He gave Himself for your ransom, . . ..”

Jesus gave His all for me. He is certainly worthy of my best in return. Furthermore, God commanded that sacrificial animals be spotless. Without blemish. The best.

As a child, I learned to only give my best to my Lord.

And then I learned the rest of the story.

While reading the laws about sacrifices, have you noticed that God never asked for T-bones or filet mignons? He didn’t even ask for hamburger. Instead, he asked for the fat.

In Leviticus 4, when instructing the priest about how to atone for their sin (v. 3), God told His priests to take a young bull without blemish, and “he shall take from it all the fat of the bull as a sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails and the fat which is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove . . .; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering” (Lev. 4:8-10).

The fat! Why fat? And why entrails, kidneys, and liver? Furthermore, why would He specifically want the fat around them?

After all, the entrails (intestines) handle our wastes, making them the least desirable organ. A primary duty for both the liver and kidneys is to filter wastes and toxins from the body.

The intestines, liver, and kidneys don’t fit my general definition as desirable, much less the “best” part of the body. But God also asked for the fat that’s around them. Unlike the kidneys and liver, fat doesn’t filter toxins—but it does store them so they don’t roam freely throughout the body, creating disaster.

As I type, a line from a hymn keeps playing in my mind, “Give of your best to the Master.” The best? The fat, entrails, kidneys, and liver of the sacrificial animal? The toxins? Is that our best?

There seems to be a disconnect, until you realize the Old Testament gives a foreshadowing of the New. When we surrender to Jesus, giving our lives to Him, we bring our toxins, the things that make us sick and that separate us from Him. In other words, our sin. When we offer our toxins to Jesus, He cleanses and makes us new.

God not only receives such offerings in place of the choice cuts of meat, but He calls them “an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord” (Lev. 3:5, 16). A sweet aroma? Our toxins are sweet to Him, because sin separates. We cannot enjoy close fellowship with Him when we are hoarding toxins.

If we hang onto our toxins as we give God our best (and think highly of ourselves for doing so!), we’re rejecting His salvation and sweet fellowship.

If we want a victorious life of joy, peace, and grace, we need to be open with God about our transgressions and shortcomings. He is waiting for our fat.

If God loves our fat, does that mean He doesn’t want our best? What about the Sunday clothes and shiny shoes? Does our outward presentation matter to Him? What about our serving?

The closing lines of “Give of Your Best to the Master” give answer to that question. They say, “Give Him your heart’s adoration. Give Him the best that you have.”

Our best is our heart. If we adore Him, if He has our heart, we won’t withhold anything from Him. We’ll offer up our sins and weaknesses gladly out of our love for the Lord.

One way of expressing love is to look your best for the one you love, and that choice can grow out of love. The motivation can be to glorify the Lord. In that case, I feel sure He is pleased.

However, He is most concerned about the heart. A more sure sign of our love for the Lord is obedience. Our best effort at giving our “best”–whether that be Sunday clothes or singing in the choir–is of naught if it is not accompanied by obedience.

However, as we look at God’s love for fat, the greatest indicator of our love for Him might be our willingness to offer up to Him all of our fat. It could involve being totally transparent concerning our sins and shortcomings, keeping nothing from Him. After all, only then can we truly enjoy fellowship with Him.

I believe that’s why God loves the fat, and that it is a sweet-smelling aroma to Him. When we surrender our fat to Him, we can draw near to His heart, with nothing interfering. Then our other efforts at giving our best will also be acceptable to Him.

To Be Like Jesus

At the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus knew that one of them would betray Him, He would be crucified, and that He would rise from the dead. He also knew His disciples would scatter, leaving Him to suffer alone.

Jesus understood what was before Him, and yet in obedience to His Father, He continued forward so we could be cleansed of our sins, be joined with Him and His Father, and enjoy fellowship together as one.

The opposition of the religious rulers had reached a climax. It was time. Time for false accusations and questioning by the religious and political rulers. Time to be mocked, scourged, and hung on the cross. Time to die.

He warned His disciples that He was about to be killed (Matt. 26:1-4). Then, taking them with Him, He went forth.

After an agonizing time of prayer, Jesus was met by Judas, leading “a great multitude with swords and clubs” coming to arrest Him (Matt. 26:47). When Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. Jesus responded with, “Friend (companion), why have you come?”

A mob came with swords, ready for a fight, but Jesus did not resist.

In contrast, Peter didn’t back down. He did what a man of courage would do when a mob attacks. He pulled out his sword, ready to stand for what is right. In his effort to protect his beloved Teacher, he cut off the ear of an attacker.

Rather than thanking Peter for his courage, Jesus touched the man and healed his ear (Luke 22:51). Then He said to Peter, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52).

In confusion, “all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56).

Deserted by His friends, Jesus submitted to the religious leaders and was led away. He was tried, mocked, and tortured before being nailed to a cross, But He went without resistance, as a sheep to the slaughter (Acts 8:32).

We’re familiar with the story. Maybe too familiar.

I’ve heard it at least once a year for years. However, as I read this passage a few days ago, certain aspects about the scene stuck with me.

Judas was betraying Jesus, not acting as a friend. However, in His greeting Jesus overlooked the evil in Judas’s heart and spoke of what they had in common.
Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter for drawing the sword or cutting off the ear. In the midst of animosity and chaos, He was gentle and straightforward with Peter, as he asked him to put away his sword.
With an angry multitude seeking to end His life, Jesus had compassion and healed the ear of his enemy.
Immediately after agony in prayer that was so great it led to sweating blood, Jesus acted with authority, apparent peace, compassion, and love in the midst of hostile chaos.
What do these actions say about who Jesus is?
What does it say to us about how He views us:
- When we betray Him?
- If we take matters into our own hands and blow it?
What does it say about how He loves us–indeed, everybody—even those who seek to destroy Him.

Two things stood out to me as I read that passage. First, Jesus did not defend Himself in word or actions, but neither was He a helpless doormat. He demonstrated quiet authority as He yielded to the enemy.

Second, He exhibited selfless love and compassion for those around Him, including His betrayer, a faithful impetuous disciple, and the enemy who sought His death. God is love. His love was–and is–unconditional, unwavering, and encompasses the enemy.

We live in a time when it is often difficult to know how to live as a Christian. From meditating on this passage to discover how Jesus responded, I’m convicted that what made Jesus stand out in the crowd was His love.

His love was clearly demonstrated and it shone through the darkness. It wasn’t flashy and put on. He was/is anchored, secure, and motivated by His love of His Father. That love was/is part of Him, defining who He is. It shines because of its sincerity, simplicity, and purity. It is not contaminated by self interests.

“We love because He first loved us” (1 Jo. 4:19). Help us, Lord, to be like Jesus.

God With Us

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). . . .

Jesus Christ was in the beginning. He was here before time began. He was with God. Indeed, He was–and is–God.

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;” (Gen 1:26)

God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, built for their enjoyment. He visited with them in the cool of the evening—until His created beings chose to eat enticing fruit rather than obey. They were driven from the garden, their sweet fellowship broken.

In order to re-establish intimacy with man, God established a blood covenant—the closest bond possible—with Abraham , including his family and his descendants forever. But His children kept going their own way. For generations, they rejected God.

“And being found in appearance as a man, [Jesus] humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).

Jesus—the Almighty, the Creator, the living God–humbled Himself by leaving His heavenly home and coming to earth. Because of His love for us, He chose to walk among man, even though He’d been rejected so many times before.

His loved us so much that He came to earth as a baby even though He knew He would die a cruel death on a cross, paying the debt for sins so we could truly fellowship with Him.

We celebrate Jesus’ birth and resurrection months apart, but the two must be linked to tell the whole story. Jesus came to earth in order to die for us. He walked the earth and experienced the scorn of the multitudes, all for us.

The manger has a cross behind it, looming over it. Jesus humbled Himself to be born on earth—even in a manger. He humbled Himself to die for us—even a cruel death on a cross. All because He loved you and me so much.

He humbles Himself still, by living in hearts that, like Adam and Eve’s, are wooed and torn by the enticing fruit of our own desires and of the world around us. In spite of our fallen nature, He is Emmanuel, God with us.

It’s too much to grasp, too wonderful to understand. And yet, it is true. Indeed, it is Truth. The holy, living, all-powerful, Creator and God desires to be with us. He desires and intimate relationship with us.

In this busy, glitzy, season, filled with enticing fruit, I pray that you will find time to wonder at the reason for our celebration. May you experience the joy, peace, and fellowship that is found in Him. Emmanuel, God with us.

Robert & Kay Camenisch encouraging and equipping relationships