Saved To Serve

Scripture

” Now obey Me completely. Keep My covenant. If you do, then out of all of the nations you will be My special treasure. The whole earth is mine. But you will be a kingdom of priests to serve Me. You will be My holy nation.”
~Exodus 19:5-6, NIrV

Quote

The measure of a man’s greatness is not the number of servants he has but the number of people he serves.

~John Harold Hayes

My Old Testament Seminary professors referred to the covenant in Exodus 19 as the Mosaic Covenant; I think some call in the Sinai Covenant. It was a conditional covenant: note the “If”…If you do…obey Me completely,” and of course, we know they did not. A covenant is an agreement between two parties, usually one greater than the other and here Yahweh is definitely and infinitely the greater. In other words, God set the terms: Israel could agree to the terms or not agree but they could not change the terms. Covenants are a subject for another day,  today I want you to note the part about “serving.” Yahweh says, “You will be a kingdom of priest to serve Me.” Somehow the Israelites misunderstood: they focused on the line, “You will be My special treasure” and overlooked the part about serving. They became a proud and bigoted people who believed they were better than others and that God was to serve them. This was a gross misunderstanding of God’s redemptive purpose.


What most folks fail to understand is that the job of Priest {in the O.T.} was a very demanding job and so was the job of being a Levite. So physically demanding was the job of the Levite {those who assisted the priest} that they had to retire at age 50. You could not begin work as a Levite until you were 25 and you were forced to retire at age 50. Every worshiper {family} who came to the door of the Tabernacle brought a sacrifice. Each day, hundreds of sacrifices were offered. Have you ever slaughtered an animal? It is hard work and they did hundreds a day. Not only did they slaughter, they had to prepare the sacrificial meat in a certain way. There were so many details and so many offerings, they needed a manual. They had to do away with the carcass and in some cases save the ashes. If you doubt me, read the book of Leviticus or Numbers chapter 8. Being a PRIEST meant service, laborious service. Yes, it was a privilege but it was also a demanding job.


Do you think Baptist sometimes think and act like Israelites. We think it’s God’s job to serve us instead of us serving HIM. How many of us murmur and complain like the ancient Israelites because our needs are not being met. Oh, we demand the privileges of the priest but we shirk the responsibilities. A priest is God’s servant: no more, no less! Stop complaining and get busy. A farmer works from sun to sun but  the work of the priest is never done.


The year 2000 was a leap year so when we look back 17 years to March 15, it was also a Wednesday. I spent almost the entire day studying for the mid-week sermon. Did have one note: “Tremendous liberty in the mid-week service.”

Well, we knew winter was not over. I walked to my little man cave this morning on a frozen tundra.  I checked on my tomatoes and they look great. They are covered in plastic with two little heaters. They are growing like crazy. My plastic cages are only 32 inches high and the tomatoes are going to be hitting the top before long.

Today is a church day. I will be visiting mostly. I get to preach Sunday night and the Lord put a message on my heart yesterday. I was thrilled: with the opt to preach and the LORD speaking. It is fun to preach when you have a message from the LORD.

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