February 19 - Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Good morning everyone,

This morning in our reading we are going to learn a bit about “holy” and what that means. Aaron and his sons having been selected and then consecrated to priesthood, are now ready to go to work offering sacrifices on behalf of the people, in obedience, to God. After the first celebration of sacrifices Moses and Aaron bless the people and then, get this, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. How awesome is that!? Then, we’re told, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the alter. The people fell to the ground in awe. One of those moments when you question your mind “what did I just see?” That would just be cRaZy amazing! Wouldn’t you agree?

Sometimes people will wonder and ask the question, “why God doesn’t use these huge displays of His wonder in our world of today?” To that I would say, “Oh but He does!” However, today it is more evident in the work He is doing through His people, His church. When you start to look with eyes of love and faith you will begin see the many miracles and life changing intercessions God makes on our behalf. It is all around us to see but to experience that kind of miracle requires total dependence on and faith in God. 

In chapter ten we are told about the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. You may be thinking, “Wow, that was kind of harsh. What kind of a God would do that? I mean after all, they were there worshiping God, right?!.” and that is true, they were. However we’re told in 10:1 that “Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command.” Key words, “unauthorized” and “contrary to command.” Maybe they got caught up in the moment and let that momentum carry them to a bad choice. They were young, maybe they were up there saying to the crowd of some 600,000 people, “Yo, dude. Look what I can do?” okay, maybe not, but the point is our God is a Holy God and demands to be treated as such, He demands and deserves to be honored. That day God sent a very clear message to all of the people, being, “If you are going to go before the Lord you will be respectful, honor Him and treat Him Holy.” These sons of Aaron, priests of God did not do that, the price being their life.

I would suggest to you that it is not all that different for us today. We may not be priests to God but we certainly have a responsibility to live our lives in a way that is respectful and honoring to God. We have the Bible that God provided for us, which pretty much lays out how we are to live our lives. It addition to it helping us know how we are to conduct ourselves and how we are to worship God, it gives us clear instructions on what is “unauthorized” and “contrary to command.”  So, if you are choosing to live in total rebellion to what you know to be God’s will, I would recommend NOT going on any type of a walk outside while a thunder and lightening storm is happening in your area. You know what I mean? :-)

While we may not always understand God’s discipline or why He does what He does there is one thing you can know for sure; God loves you, He loves me, He loves every single one of us and all that He does is to make us a better person and to get us to a better place, a place called heaven where we will spend eternity with Him. Amen?

I pray you have a great day. To Abba be the glory.