Post by cspain03 on Jul 15, 2014 13:46:57 GMT
Hey everyone, so a couple of things stood out to me from this chapter:
First:
14 Everyone who crosses over to those numbered, from twenty years old and up, is to pay an offering to the Lord .
15 The rich are not to increase it, and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving the offering of the Lord , to make atonement for your lives.
This shows that God has no respect of person - He excepts the same from all of us. I think this is also something we need to internalize with respect to value - the rich person's life was of no more value than the poor and the poor person's life of no less value than the rich, each of our lives cost Jesus the same, and it was a price He was willing to pay for us so that we would be ransomed before the Lord. What a blessing it is to know we don't have to worry about paying that price anymore! It's also a blessing to know that the value of a life is the same for each of us, no matter our socio-economic status or our educational background or our professions/careers - we are all of equal value to God!
Ironically, the first time I read through these verses, my perspective was different, I originally intended to come from the angle that we all need to make sure we come with gifts/something when we come into the presence of the Lord. And though I believe that to be important, I think the coming of gifts before the Lord now (making sure we don't come empty hand only with our problems) is that we don't have to pay a price but we're coming offering praise and thanksgiving because the cost for our lives has already been paid be Jesus Christ. The greatest gift we can bring to God is ourselves, open and willing to serve Him and His kingdom but beyond that, we can offer gifts of praise and service, as well as physical gifts to continue supporting the uplifting of God's kingdom and those called to Ministry. We may not be ballin' but we always have something and we shouldn't use the excuse of not being rich to allow us to feel comfortable coming to God empty handed - we are all called to give.
19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it.
20 When they enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water so that they do not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the Lord ,
21 they must wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. And this will be a perpetual ordinance for them and for their descendants throughout their generations."
For me, I don't take these verses in the literal sense of the need to be clean (though don't use that as an excuse to come to church smelly when you have the means to clean up) but I think it's much more important to think of the importance of removal the spiritual, emotional, mental, flesh-driven dirt from ourselves before entering the presence of God. Granted, there are some stains that only the Blood of Jesus can erase, but there are other things that we can take care of ourselves - our attitudes/mindsets (unforgive-ness, hate, envy, greed, etc.), the "dirty" activities we participate in (like gossip), and the list goes on. I encourage us all to be mindful of how we come unto the Lord, whether it be in prayer or to the sanctuary, we can't just come any ol' kinda way - clean yourself up as best you can and allow God to handle the rest!
First:
14 Everyone who crosses over to those numbered, from twenty years old and up, is to pay an offering to the Lord .
15 The rich are not to increase it, and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving the offering of the Lord , to make atonement for your lives.
This shows that God has no respect of person - He excepts the same from all of us. I think this is also something we need to internalize with respect to value - the rich person's life was of no more value than the poor and the poor person's life of no less value than the rich, each of our lives cost Jesus the same, and it was a price He was willing to pay for us so that we would be ransomed before the Lord. What a blessing it is to know we don't have to worry about paying that price anymore! It's also a blessing to know that the value of a life is the same for each of us, no matter our socio-economic status or our educational background or our professions/careers - we are all of equal value to God!
Ironically, the first time I read through these verses, my perspective was different, I originally intended to come from the angle that we all need to make sure we come with gifts/something when we come into the presence of the Lord. And though I believe that to be important, I think the coming of gifts before the Lord now (making sure we don't come empty hand only with our problems) is that we don't have to pay a price but we're coming offering praise and thanksgiving because the cost for our lives has already been paid be Jesus Christ. The greatest gift we can bring to God is ourselves, open and willing to serve Him and His kingdom but beyond that, we can offer gifts of praise and service, as well as physical gifts to continue supporting the uplifting of God's kingdom and those called to Ministry. We may not be ballin' but we always have something and we shouldn't use the excuse of not being rich to allow us to feel comfortable coming to God empty handed - we are all called to give.
19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it.
20 When they enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water so that they do not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the Lord ,
21 they must wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. And this will be a perpetual ordinance for them and for their descendants throughout their generations."
For me, I don't take these verses in the literal sense of the need to be clean (though don't use that as an excuse to come to church smelly when you have the means to clean up) but I think it's much more important to think of the importance of removal the spiritual, emotional, mental, flesh-driven dirt from ourselves before entering the presence of God. Granted, there are some stains that only the Blood of Jesus can erase, but there are other things that we can take care of ourselves - our attitudes/mindsets (unforgive-ness, hate, envy, greed, etc.), the "dirty" activities we participate in (like gossip), and the list goes on. I encourage us all to be mindful of how we come unto the Lord, whether it be in prayer or to the sanctuary, we can't just come any ol' kinda way - clean yourself up as best you can and allow God to handle the rest!