Burnt Offerings

Time makes a holocaust of all that we make or have. Even pyramids crumble, and knowledge is replaced. Pythagorus didn't discover his rule--who did nobody knows anymore.

An old preacher complained about that, perhaps forgetting that all our works are present to God, unforgotten.

Why did God command that some of the offerings be burnt offerings? He doesn't need smoke--the offering was for our sake.

A burnt offering shows our complete abandonment of the offering--there's no sacrificial meal we share in. That's a well-known part of the benefit for us--loving God more than things.

But perhaps it is also an object lesson to remind us that, contrary to our default expectation, we don't keep anything for long, but God holds all of our works and ways forever.