Did you know pancakes and grits are in the Bible? “Grits” is not in every translation, but it is in the LSB, and both are mentioned in the context of voluntary grain offerings in Leviticus 2.

And if your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil…Also if you bring near a grain offering of early ripened things to Yahweh, you shall bring near fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, grits of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things. You shall then put oil on it and place frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. And the priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of its grits and its oil with all its frankincense as an offering by fire to Yahweh. (Leviticus 2.5, 14 – 16, LSB, emphasis mine)

What do you call “a grain offering made on the griddle…of fine flour..with oil”? I call it pancakes! And “grits” is mentioned twice. Who knew our breakfast favorites were Biblical?!

The main point of Leviticus 2, I think, is the voluntary nature of these offerings:

Now when anyone brings near a grain offering as an offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. (Leviticus 2.1, LSB)

God anticipated that people would want to make voluntary offerings as worship. The only requirement was that there be no leaven (verse 11) and that it contain salt (verse 13).

While there are descriptions in the Bible of the tithe as a requirement, and some translations of Deuteronomy 26.26 use the phrase “paying the tithe,” most talk of giving, even in the Old Testament, is voluntary.

Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice…He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor… (Psalm 112.5, 9, NIV 1984)

There is certainly an emphasis on voluntary giving in the New Testament:

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9.6 – 7, KJV, emphasis mine)

I love those verses…and the promise that follows:

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9.8, 10 – 11, NIV)