Ready to serve!
We need to be prepared for what God might want to do through us.
July 21
Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day.
2 Chronicles 5:11
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Ready to serve!
Solomon has completed the construction of the temple. They have moved the Ark of the Covenant into the Most Holy Place and also brought all of the furnishings and the tent that the Ark was housed in into the temple. It seems from the text that there were a lot of priests present for this event. The priests had the responsibility and duties within the temple. Back in 1 Chronicles 24, David had divided the descendants of Aaron into 24 divisions. Each division had an assigned time to serve in the temple. Many priests were present who were not on duty.
What caught my attention here in this text is not that they were there, but that they had purified themselves. For the Hebrew priest this was a ritual act of cleansing that would make them presentable and acceptable to God. There were also certain things that they had to stay away from so they would not become defiled which would prevent them from serving for a period of time.
Even though these priests were not going to be serving in the temple they had prepared themselves as though they were. What a great lesson for us to keep in mind. We also need to be prepared for what God might want to do through us. Too often people think about their relationship to God and their service to Him in relation to when they are going to church. Our time of service is not limited to once or twice a week when the church meets to hold services. Our time of service to God is 24 hours a day and seven days a week. We need to be ready whenever He might call.
The priests got ready by going through a cleansing ritual and by staying away from things that would defile them. We stay ready the same way but using different methods. We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus as we go to the LORD and seek forgiveness of our sins. We also need to stay away from things that defile us. Things like sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, and pornography just to name a few. By staying away from these things, we keep ourselves ready to serve the LORD when He wants to use us.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, as a Christian you have a responsibility to serve God when He says He wants you. That could be in a ministry, or a church, or a home Bible study, or in your family. Wherever it is, you must be prepared to serve; you must keep yourself ready. Your opportunity to serve might happen at the gas station, grocery store, at work, at home, and of course at church. We are not on a rotating schedule of service; we are on call all the time. Jesus, help us to prepare ourselves so that we can serve You when You want us.
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