Vayikra - a Partnership between Heaven and Man

And the descendants of Aaron the kohen shall place fire on the altar, and arrange wood on the fire.

Vayikra 1:7
Rashi notes on this verse "Even though the fire came down from heaven, it is a mitzvah to bring [fire] by layman"

So why does this verse instruct the Kohenim to put fire on the alter, and even add the means for the fire, the wood, when in fact this whole event is undertaken by a heavenly  fire. Why not leave the fire on the alter to come from heaven?

Pkudei - Taking the High Road

Moses saw the entire work, and lo! they had done it-as the Lord had commanded, so had they done. So Moses blessed them.
Shmot 39:43 
This verse has a number of interesting aspects to it.

  1. First there is a seeming repetition that it says  "they had done" and repeats "so had they done"
  2. Second, upon seeing that the work on the Mishkan was completed Moshe  blesses the Jewish people. Yet the work was a mitzvah, a divine commandment. We do not see Moshe blessing the Jewish people at the successful completion of every commandment. So why did this deserve a blessing. 

The Or HaChaim  notes that the repetition about the completion of the work comes from the fact that in the mitzvah of constructing the Mishkan, there was never given a time limitation to this mitzvah.

In other words it did not need to have been completed in any particular amount of time. Yet, as the Or HaChaim comments the work took place in a particularly short amount of time.

The Or HaChaim brings the words of Chazal from a discussion in Mesechet Zevachim (62B).

The corners, the ramp, the base and the square shape are critical [for the creation of the external alter], while the dimensions - width, length, and height are not critical [for the creation of the external alter].
Zevachim 62B 
The Gemorah goes on to discuss in depth these aspects of the external alter. The Or HaChaim takes this point to emphasize that for the construction of the Mishkan, there were issues that the Jewish People could have not been particular about and still fulfilled the mitzvah. Yet the repetition in this verse comes to show that the Jewish People not only fulfilled mitvot in their simple level, but sought to perform mitvot in the choicest and most preferable way, going beyond the minimum expectations.

I would add that this is at a time when the Jewish People are still a loose desert community, short on resources, and fresh out of Egyptian servitude. Nevertheless, the desire to perform mitzvot to the highest level possible is praiseworthy.

And out of this exemplary behavior, Moshe comes to bless the people. As noted, the fulfillment of a mitzvah is meeting basic expectations, but pushing beyond the basic demands of a mitzvah is worthy of a blessing from Moshe.

So we can also take a lead from this in how we lead our own lives vis a vis mitzvot. There are many mitzvot that can be fulfilled in a simple manner, while others, with a little more concentration and effort, can be fulfilled and glorified at a higher level.