Time for a review. Sometimes in life you need to stop, look back, peruse the facts that have been presented to you and see just what is going on. “Take stock” if you will. So far in the book of Leviticus we have been given an exhaustive amount of detail from God on exactly how He desires the Israelites to worship Him using the new tabernacle. There is a sin offering, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a peace offering and a trespass offering, and each has a very precise set of instructions. Concerning the tabernacle, we saw Him give the details for building it down to the finest details in the last part of Exodus. He tells of the specific materials to be used, where they are to be used, the dimensions, the furniture to be placed within it and God even tells us exactly who is to build the Tabernacle. You see God is a God of order, harmony and organization. He is crystal clear in His instructions to us and well…all we have to do is just follow His directions.
I would call Leviticus chapter 9 a culmination chapter. We have seen God giving amazingly fine details about all five of the different offerings and today for the first time we will see them executed. Moses is there to supervise as Aaron and his four sons for the first time, process the different offerings in the sight of the people and most importantly, in the sight of God.
This must have been a huge day. The priests were all dressed exactly as God had instructed them in Leviticus 8 and I’m sure they had tons of stuff floating around in their heads concerning the different directions for the different offerings. Throw the blood against the altar for some, pour it at the base for others, and apply it to the horns for another. Burn some pieces on the altar, others outside the tabernacle, and even some choice pieces were reserved for the priests. But the fat was always the Lord’s. There would have been great pressure on this day also. If Aaron made a mistake, it could mean death. You see when God gives directions, He expects them to be followed. I can only imagine the night before this big day, Aaron and his sons standing in their tents practicing the different offerings in their heads over and over. It had to be right.
As I read through the immense detail, God revealed to me that very little is different today. (well, besides of course, the massive sacrificing of animals…man would PETA have had a fit in ancient Israel!) You see nothing has changed today because God still demands our worship. He demands that we make Him, our creator, first in our lives. That we acknowledge Him before any other gods, that we love Him with all of our soul, our mind and our strength, and that we worship Him through worshiping our Savior, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And yes, throughout all of these, He gives us very clear, very precise directions. All we have to do is simply follow His directions.
As a kid, like probably all of you, I loved to color. An interesting picture and a fresh pack of crayons and I was a happy young camper. Speaking of coloring, what’s up with crayons? When I was a kid, I started off with a 16 pack of primary “plain” colors. Nowadays they have 120 colors with names like mountain meadow, tumbleweed and asparagus. What? Sounds like too many marketing grads with time on their hands. Grown ups…always trying to give kids asparagus. I realize much of it might be within your specific personality type, but when I colored, I paid very close attention to the lines. The color had to be within the lines. One small stoke outside of the lines and my whole piece of priceless artwork was ruined. Start over, this piece will never make it to the Louvre. You see, the picture had a purpose. Fill in a blank image with color. In essence, give an image life.
Before we admitted we were sinners before God and cried out to Jesus to save us from the death of sin, we too, were blank images, empty lives that needed purpose. Blank white lives that needed the myriad crayons of Jesus to color our lives. To give it true life. And to get that color, we simply follow God. We follow the directions that He has given us.
There is clear direction to be saved from your sins (Rom 10:9-10)
There is clear direction to be baptized (Acts 2:38)
There is clear direction to join a church, that is, become a part of a local body of Christ (Eph 4:16)
There is clear direction that we are to know Him deeper through a daily study of His Word (John 6:63)
There is clear direction that we are to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others (Matt 28:16-20)
There is clear direction that we are to love God no matter what (Gal 2:20)
There is clear direction that we are to love everyone on this planet as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31)
There is clear direction that we are to constantly admit our sins directly to God (Psalms 32:5)
There is clear direction that we are to physically serve God (Deut 11:13)
There is clear direction that we are to physically serve others (Gal 5:13)
There is clear direction that we are to financially support God’s work (2 Cor 9:6-8)
There is clear direction on being free from materialism and debt (Ecc 5:10, Matt 6:19-20, Mark 8:36, Heb 13:5)
Folks, I could go on and on and on and on. For every nuance of life, God has given us clear directions. Do you know what God’s directions are for you? If you’re not engaged in a thorough study of His Word, then you won’t. Can you imagine if Aaron were to attempt to perform the 4 different offerings in front of God if He didn’t know exactly what God wanted? It would have been absolute catastrophe and would have ended in death. Folks, if you’re living your life without knowing God’s directions, the result will be the same for you. Spiritual death that is. You see, you can walk this Earth spiritually dead in your trespasses against God. You can walk this world dead to the joy, freedom, peace, mercy and grace that God offers you freely. All you have to do is know His directions and then simply follow them to gain true life. The result? A life that is full. A life that is abundant. A life that has purpose. A life that has meaning and makes a difference in the lives of others. A life that steers others to Jesus.
You can have this life today. Study God’s directions, follow them closely and remember…stay within those lines with your asparagus crayon.
God Bless your personal quiet time with Him today.
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