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February 15
The Bible reading for today is Leviticus chapters 8,9,10.
The first part of our reading today is the story of the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests in Israel. These men would be set apart to serve the purposes of the Lord in the Tabernacle, representing the congregation of Israel before God.
Back in our Exodus reading, we learned that God desired to make Israel “a nation of priests”. Priests are allowed into the very presence of God. And God wanted all of His chosen ones to have such access to Him.
However, the sin of the people had not yet been finally dealt with....and thus an “intermediary” (a priest) was required between Israel and God...lest God’s holiness break out and destroy His sinful people.
Only when the wickedness of Israel had finally been dealt with could the people of God become that “nation of priests” with full access into the presence of God.
Well, guess what...sin has finally been dealt with...once and for all...by Jesus...through His sacrificial death on the cross.
Now, all who believe Jesus, Jew, and Gentile, are a part of His “royal priesthood”...His holy nation...1 Peter 2.
You will hear the term, “priesthood of the believer.” That basically means believers in Jesus don't need a priest between them and God. We are welcomed into the presence of God because of what Jesus did for us.
Now that’s quite a perk for the Christian!
As we read, that perk also comes with responsibility...we see that in chapter 9.
As priests, Arron, and his sons had to offer sacrifices for themselves...first. They were not above sinning and they needed constant grace...forgiveness of their sins...and spiritual power for their daily work.
So God made gracious provision for them also through the sacrificial offerings given to the Lord on a daily basis.
I can't help but remember a verse memorized years ago at the beginning of my discipleship with Jesus. 1 John 1:9...”If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”
As disciples of Jesus, we must keep our sin list short. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict us of our daily sins. It is our responsibility to humbly admit our sins, to ourselves and to God, regularly. God promises to follow that Godly sorrow for sin with cleansing that will free us to obey God with a new passion.
One more responsibility we see in the chapter of our reading..." after Arron completed all the sacrifices and all the anointings that God commanded him, he turned toward the congregation, raised his hands and blessed the people.”
This priesthood job was going to be a daily work...for life...to bless God and serve people.
In short, that’s the definition of the daily work of a disciple of Jesus Christ...glorify God and love people to Him.
And after Aaron served the people, a God-thing happened.
What happened was...the rest of the story...enjoy and be blessed by Jesus!
Have a great day
