KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, February 24, 2017
Chapters: Numbers 3-4
Message: Serving God With Vigor
Hello My Friend,
Burden; That which is carried, a load often with labor or difficulty. While serving God is the best and most rewarding job a person can have sometimes it can feel like a burden. Serving God gives you more responsibility and not only is your reputation on the line, so is Jesus’, do something questionable and it disgraces both of you. Guess what? It is supposed to be a burden and God appointed you to have that burden. However, with the burden comes a promise, He will always be there with us and forever. Serving God is more than just putting some notches on our belt of a job well done, it is about bringing others to know His Son. “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” – James 5:10,11,20.
Vigor; Powerful; strong; made by strength, either of body or mind. We do not have to have the strength of an ox to be used of God, He does not choose us to serve Him in His ministry based on how strong we are or even by our merits, He does so by our faith, then He gives us the strength to do the work. God chose the Levites to serve Him, He begins outlining their duties, beginning with Aaron and his sons.
“These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.” – Numbers 3:1-7.
“ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.” You see what change was made here? They worked in the presence of their father. God is our heavenly Father, He oversees everything we do, and since we belong to Him He is going to make sure we know that He is always watching. Are we always going to do what is right? Nope, not by a long shot, but that is what Jesus is for, He fills in what we lack. Our main reason for being accountable for our actions is so that we can be the ministers God needs us to be to reach the lost. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” – I John 5:14-17.
Realizing that God is always watching us has to put some fear in the back of our minds, I mean, think about it, would you do or even think half the things you do if He was standing right there in from of you? After God set Israel free from Egypt He declared that all the first born were His, now, since He decided that He was only going to use the Levites to minister to Him regarding the tabernacle He altered this to be only the Levites belonging to Him. The number of their male children, from a month old and upward, was requested in order that a comparison might be made with that of the Levites. The Levites, twenty-two thousand in number, were given in exchange for an equal number of the first-born from the other tribes, leaving an excess of two hundred seventy-three, and as there were no substitutes for these, they were redeemed at the rate of five shekels for each.
“And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel. And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD. And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.” – Numbers 3:41-48.
“And for those that are to be redeemed” The second we receive Christ as our Saviour we are redeemed, bought and paid for with His blood. How incredible is that? God has given us all skills that enable us to do the work He calls us to do, part of being employed by God is serving Him in whatever duties He appoints us. God gave specific duties to each of the children within the Levites, the sons of Kohath were appointed to carry the holy things of the tabernacle from place to place.
“This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it: And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.” – Numbers 4:4-6,15,18-20.
“But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered,” All the holy things were to be covered, not only for security and respect, but to keep them from being seen as anyone who saw them would be put to death. The reason behind this is a mystery, perhaps it was meant to separate the holy from the unholy since they would have had to be consecrated in order to even get close. We could never stand before God unholy, which is why He sent Jesus to make His presence available to us anytime. Jesus, was a servant here, just like we who serve Him are, He followed the will of God even though He could have done anything He wanted to do. We are to follow in the footsteps of our Saviour, not as an obligation, but as a privilege and honor. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” – John 15:13-16.
Jesus Christ Magnified: Today Jesus is revealed through Aaron, the high priest. Jesus is our high priest, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;” – Hebrews 9:11.
Today’s Prayer: God, You have called all Your people to serve You in some way, whether it is in the church, in the schools, or in the work force, and You give us the wisdom to be the best we can be just by following Your Son. Jesus, You have called all of us to reach the lost with the Gospel, lead us, guide us, and give us Your power to find lost souls. And et us be the example we need to be to bring them out and show them how they can know You too. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2017 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.