We become like what we love.

Like grapes in the wilderness,

I found Israel.

Like the first fruit on the fig tree

in its first season,

I saw your fathers.

But they came to Baal-peor

and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,

and became detestable like the thing they loved.

Hosea 9:10

God’s rebuke of Israel for repeated idolatrous faith-breaking with Him reminds the people that they have always struggled to worship only Him. Although God had tenderly cared for His people, like a wild grape vine that He would transform into His vineyard, the fruit of all His care eventually yielded nothing but their neglect and unfaithfulness. God did not get His desired fruit. So He would prune and uproot the vine that He loved.

At a placed called Peor the people chose to go after the gods of the Gentiles with a driving, awful passion. They grossly disobeyed, mixed Baal worship with sexual perversion in a defection from the covenant that they once said they would always keep (read about it in Numbers 25). This was detailed in gross idolatry, and God would bring judgment upon the people for it. They ceased to be the people of His vine. They became detestable and vile, like Baal itself, the evil idol they worshiped. Baal worship included fertility rites and prostitution. It was destructive to families and lives, but obviously hugely attractive. And when Israel chased the idol of Baal they became just like the thing they loved: twisted, unfaithful, lustful, evil, detestable, and broken. Chasing false gods led them to quickly spiral down.

When my heart worships God, I pray that the goal I know by experience is closer fellowship to Him. But when I worship anything else, the sad truth will quickly show itself in the fruit of my life. We become like what we worship. This is why I must worship, adore, follow, trust, and lean completely on Jesus.

I can’t fix the worst thing about me.

Who can say, “I have made my heart pure;

I am clean from my sin”?

Proverbs 20:9

This is a deeply troubling and profound rhetorical question. It is not within the power of sinners to save themselves. We cannot purify our own hearts, no matter how diligent our good deeds or how noble our intentions. In the end, the best we do is still overshadowed by the worst that we are. Our sin natures still taint our self-righteous actions. It’s a losing effort because sin is entrenched in us from birth. Only God can declare sinners righteous because only He is 100% pure and holy.

The only hope of the aspirations of Proverbs 20:9 is found in the work of Christ as detailed in Romans 5:19 — “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Even then, those who trust Jesus cannot claim to have cleaned up their own act. Jesus’ righteousness is given to them to cancel out the debt of sin and free them from its bondage. Thank God that He loves us enough to to provide the way for our forgiveness. We are only holy because Jesus Christ is holy.

There is a fountain

filled with blood

drawn from Immanuel’s veins

and sinners plunged

beneath that flood

lose all their guilty stains!

a universe of praise

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

Psalm 104:33

Every morning that I awaken to a new day, with breath in my lungs, and gratitude in my heart, I want to worship my God. Psalm 104 is a wonderful celebration of God as Creator, Sustainer, and Keeper of this universe and the world He has put mankind upon. The song it sings is a poem of celestial praise showing how God is at work in the world, focusing on creation and the wonderful wildness of what we see around us.

In this psalm, the camera of praise pans from mountain to valley, from alpine brook to vast oceans, from birds and beasts of the forest to seas teeming with countless creatures. It’s like watching a National Geographic documentary, but with repeated shouts of praise for the glory of the God Who made it all.

All the glory of what God has done points to the majesty of His Person (see Psalm 104:31). And living in this world should lead us to praise the God Who made it and made us. It is what all creation should just naturally do. We were made to declare God’s greatness and sing His praise!

Oh my great God,

I will declare Your greatness as I know it in Your world. I feel it in the mountains, in the swift current of a trout stream, in the rush of a prairie breeze, or in the crash of the surf on the ocean shore. You are great and mighty and I am just a man whose days are like grass. My life will flower and then fade. But You are eternally, gloriously God!

I will declare Your great grace. In Jesus, You re-create me. You give me forgiveness of sin and eternal life so that even though I fade, I am promised to be forever with my Lord one day, and I will inherit a resurrection body to roam and explore a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness. And there will be no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more death... just the glorious song of praise that all creation was meant to always sing to You! I want to daily praise the God Who made this universe!

Amen

the Ruler

For your servant's sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

1 Chronicles 17:19

This was part of David’s response to God’s outpouring of grace in the establishment of a covenant that would forever make David’s family line the ruling kingly dynasty in Israel. And that promise points all the way to Jesus, Son of David, Son of Man, Who is the final promise of the Davidic covenant. I look back on my own salvation in praise that God has “done all this greatness, in making known these great things.”

God’s desire to heal the world, destroy sin and death, and rule us in grace, justice, and love are fully known in Jesus. He is the past, present, and future King. He is the One Whom God has confirmed in His house and in His kingdom forever (1 Chronicles 17:14). And as the Son of David, Jesus Who now rules at the Father’s right hand, shall return again to rule not only Israel, but the world in a beautiful kingdom that will restore all that God has wanted this world to be from its very creation.

O Lord Jesus,

Rule now as King of Kings, Lord of lords! As the Son of Man You came to change all the world in the inverse method of Your death and resurrection. You rule souls in grace, power, and love. As the Son of David, You will return in fulfillment of God’s certain and sure promise to David of a forever King on Israel’s throne. As the Son of God You rule my heart. I worship You now, my King and my God!

Amen

the cost of craving

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

Numbers 11:4-6

This story illustrates how misplaced desires are at the root of our deepest sins (see James 1:14-16). The story begins with a craving. Some of the rascals in Israel were wanting something more than the manna that God provided for His people. They expressed this desire. This led to crybaby behavior from the nation, a tantrum of wants spilled out as they remembered the slave food they ate in Egypt. Somehow the sustenance of slavery because a wistful longing as they let desire lead them to unthankfulness.

The people let cravings lead them to comparison which then led to rejection of what God provided. This eventually led to Moses’ own dissatisfaction with leading Israel, but Moses does something different with his conflicting desires: He takes them to God in prayer. Israel let their wants lead them away from God. Moses let His situation lead him to God.

God heard both the complaining and the prayer. God answered Moses by instituting a shared leadership structure for Moses to better manage the 600,000 complainers. Seventy elders are appointed to help bear the burden as God promises to empower these elders by His Spirit so that Moses isn’t bearing all the weight of leadership alone (Numbers 11:18-17).

God answered Israel by letting them have what they wanted... at the expense of His judgment. For a month God brought a wind that blew down quail. The people feasted on the abundant meat, but even as they started to do so, a plague of judgment broke out among them. The meat satisfied a craving at a steep cost. They ate the quail and buried the sinful cravers in the desert sand. The nation learned firsthand the cost of sinful desire, and journeyed on with God.

not ashamed

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

2 Timothy 1:12

Four times in the first chapter of 2 Timothy Paul reminds Timothy not to fear or to be ashamed:

• God did not give us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:2).
• ...do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner (2 Timothy1:8).
• I am not ashamed (2 Timothy 1:12).
• Onesiphorus...was not ashamed (2 Timothy 1:16).

Why this call to reject fear and stand unashamed? Because persecution was strong (Paul was, after all, in prison as he penned this letter) but the gospel was stronger!

We reject fear because God has given us power, love, and self-control through the transformative gospel (2 Timothy 1:7). We are not ashamed of the fact that Jesus and His people have suffered, but instead share in that suffering for the advance of the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8). This is done by the power of Christ’s grace, not by our own toughness (2 Timothy 1:9-12a). We are convinced of this truth and power and then trust Jesus to guard us because He has entrusted us with the gospel message and the work of the kingdom (2 Timothy 1:12). We refresh other believers when we earnestly minister to each other as we suffer by being unashamed of our Savior and our suffering (2 Timothy 1:16-18).

O God Who gives power, love, and self-control, I pray that I too can have a life lived unashamed of the gospel! May I guard this trust that You will keep in me. And no matter what, I reject a spirit of fear so that unashamed, You may be known.

Amen

What You Have Done

Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

John 7:31

You pierced the darkness

when You arrived

unknown, but worshiped

by angels and shepherds

born to peasants

You spoke the truth

when You taught

unknown, but controversial

to crowds and disciples

followed and hated

You healed the broken

when You touched

unknown, but astounding

to beggars and blind men

changed to believers

You challenged the lies

when You were confronted

unknown, but refreshing

to hearers and haters

believed and despised

You died for sins

when You were crucified

unloved, but loving

to thieves and mockers

broken and bleeding

You rose from the grave

our complete Savior

undaunted and victorious

over sin and Satan

for believers and brothers

when it gets this bad

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,

for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and no knowledge of God in the land;

there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hosea 4:1-2

This is God’s warning of His judgment falling upon the Jews in Israel, announced by His prophet Hosea, because things had gotten to their worst. When it gets really bad, God is not absent. He will bring judgment on sinners who disobey and turn from Him. God’s controversy with Israel would be settled in His disciplining judgment. But look at how bad it had become! First... what there was not:

1) no faithfulness to following God’s wisdom or commands,

2) no grace (steadfast love) to be found among the people,

3) no knowledge of God — a direct and willful ignorance of God’s Word was embraced as part of everyday life.

Look at what came pouring into Israel’s society to fill the vacuum when these three things were abandoned:

1) swearing — not just course speech, but false oaths... promises routinely broken.

2) lying — no truth was leading them anymore. Lies proliferated to the point where nothing could be believed.

3) murder — no grace meant no value to human life.

4) stealing — every person took what they wanted, disregarding the impact.

5) adultery — sexual desire was given full sway and cultural dominance.

6) anarchy — “they break all bounds”. Nothing was out of bounds anymore.

7) bloodshed — violence was an everyday occurrence.

None of that is a pretty picture or even close to a civil society. It is what happens when God is abandoned by a human culture.

When it gets this bad, we must circle back in repentance and faith to those first three foundational commitments.

1) It starts with a foundation of the knowledge of God by knowing, believing, and trusting His revealed Word. That begins and sticks to the gospel: Jesus died for our sin so that we could live in Him!

2) We then throw ourselves on the grace of God. His steadfast love is fully known in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

3) We commit to Jesus as Lord, faithfully following and obeying Him. These things we must do when it is this bad right now!

reject impulsive desire

Desire without knowledge is not good,

and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

Proverbs 19:2

Waiting and trusting God are the better parts of wisdom. This proverb warns against getting in a hurry. The problem is letting my desire lead. When I let desire push me without waiting on the knowledge and wisdom of God to inform me, I run the risk of making very foolish choices that might well be fraught with sinful consequences. Desire is a very bad guide.

This goes against the Disney-esque advice of our culture that wants you to “set Your heart” on your dream... “anything your heart desires will come to you.” That’s dangerous. Vision must be informed by the truth of God’s revelation first and foremost. Dreams must be accompanied by wisdom. Desires must be led first by worship of God. Otherwise our desires will become demanding idols themselves and our hopes will never be satisfied.

It also takes time to do this. We must reject the reckless, restless demands of our desires leading us. We must seek God in prayer, search His Word for direction, seek good counsel from His people, and then act in His wisdom. We must reject the impulsive pressures of our own sinful demanding wants that can be so urgent, recognize that the world system pushes us to “have it all”, and fight the temptations thrown at us that seem great ideas, but break us when we succumb foolishly to our impulsive desires.

Jesus,

Be my desire! I trust in You. I pray that You will graciously lead me in Your wisdom to reject my sinful, impulsive wants and trust my Father to always provide all that I need. I will trust Your great and precious promises to give me knowledge that will align my desires with Yours!

Amen

forgiving avenger

Moses and Aaron were among his priests,

Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.

They called to the LORD, and he answered them.

In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;

they kept his testimonies

and the statute that he gave them.

O LORD our God, you answered them;

you were a forgiving God to them,

but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

Psalm 99:6-8

This is not a familiar psalm, but should be. I presume it is not very popular because it’s message is quite sobering. 

Psalm 99 praises God for His faithful care of His people Israel, recounting a history of God’s rule as King over His people with justice, equity, and righteousness (Psalm 99:4). This mighty God revealed Himself in His Word and appointed priests to minister on His behalf to His people. Moses, Aaron, and Samuel are remembered as some of the best whom God used in this way. These men interceded for Israel, calling out to God and being answered by Him from the pillar of the cloud of His glory that surrounded His holy tabernacle. They upheld His Law and served as intercessors, prophets, and priests.

Yet even these three men are flawed sinners for whom God must forgive sin. He graciously provided the means to do so as they obeyed the sacrificial laws of the Old Testament. God showed them mercy by being a forgiving God.

But there was also another mercy shown to them in God’s chastising discipline. He “avenged” their wrongdoings as well. Moses was kept from entering Canaan with Israel because of his presumptuous, prideful sin. Aaron endured the pain of losing disrespectful sons whom God killed for offering improper service at the tabernacle. Samuel suffered similarly in his old age as his sons wandered from the Lord. The God Who forgives sin also chastises sinners in order to conform them to His own holiness. God is a forgiving avenger, but He is never soft on sin. Never.

And that is important to remember. In Christ I am forgiven of the worst aspects of all my sin. Completely forgiven and clothed in Christ’s righteousness is how I am seen by my Father. But God, in mercy, may still discipline me in order to mature my growth in Christlikeness. Consequences my follow to keep me humble so that I might lean into His grace securely and seriously. God disciplines and forgives His children out of love. 

where the credit belongs

And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.

1 Chronicles 14:2

David would keep humble worship at the focus of his extraordinary success. He didn’t take credit for his kingdom’s rise on the world scene. It was all God’s doing and he knew it. The Lord had established David’s kingdom. The Lord had given him the new city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Lord spread the reputation of king David’s kingdom around the nations. God was faithful to His covenant with Israel by blessing the leadership of David.

And one of the most encouraging parts of this account is that David himself knew it was all God’s doing. His heart was as thrilled at God’s blessing as the heart of any other astonished citizen who saw the kingdom turn around. He was entirely content to give God the credit. And that is the mark of an excellent leader. Excellent leaders aren’t self-absorbed. Excellent leaders don’t take credit. Excellent leaders don’t need to loudly publish their own press releases. Scripturally excellent leaders point to the Giver of all good gifts as the source of all success.

I will only take responsibility for my mistakes, lessons learned, and lessons yet to be learned. I have the privilege every day of investing time, conversation, and my gifts with numerous people. I have the blessing of often communicating to larger groups of people, sometimes hundreds of people at once. And all of it is given by God. May I focus the God-given gifts of my time, abilities, and resources to pointing others to Jesus... to the God Who saved me, loves them, and transforms lives. God does all the work. I confess and forsake the sin of wanting recognition for myself. And I ask for God to give me more opportunities to put the focus on Him. God deserves the credit! That is how leaders can worship well.

cleansed to enter service

And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

Numbers 8:21

In order for us to properly obey and serve the Lord, God has to make provision for our sin to be dealt with. He is a holy God. Sin cannot be in His presence. Sinners cannot just march up to Him. Sin hinders His worship. It negates our service. Sin has to be confessed and forsaken by us and atoned by the Lord.

This account of the cleansing and dedication of the tribe of Levi as they entered into their regular duties in the tent of meeting serves to illustrate all these realities about sin. First, all the Levites had to be readied for this. They practiced all the ceremonial cleansing, including the washing of their clothes. Then Aaron the high priest had to offer the men themselves as a wave offering before the Lord. Only then could their sins be atoned and they could be cleansed, fully consecrated to serve God in His tabernacle. They had to go to great obedient lengths to serve God. And it was their sin that was a serious matter in the presence of a holy God.

I pause and reflect on this Old Testament picture. Do I see sin as a defilement? Do I see the gospel as God going to great lengths so that wicked sinners such as myself could stand atoned in His presence to worship and serve Him? I tend to see sin with less seriousness than this. I tend to take for granted what Jesus has done for a sinner like me. Sadly, my innate tendency is to magnify the sin that I see in other people and to drastically excuse and downplay sin within my own heart and actions. But the truth is: God is unchanging. The holy God Who cannot allow sinful men into His presence unatoned is still the same. I must be cognizant of this: it is only because Jesus’ blood was shed for my sin and His righteousness now clothes me by faith that I can enjoy relationship with God as my Father.

To be cleansed by the blood of my Savior is not a trivial matter... it is the essence of my life, the fulfillment of my deepest need, and a precious, priceless privilege to humbly celebrate with consecrated, deep commitment!

false knowledge

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

Grace be with you.

1 Timothy 6:20-21

There is always some competition for the gospel even in the church. This is why leaders must guard the simplicity and truth of the gospel from false doctrine. Paul’s warning to Timothy is to bolster him to be on the lookout for this stuff. And one code word seems to be the key: “knowledge”.

False doctrine always seems to offer some enticing tidbit of previously unknown knowledge. That is because the devil has not changed his tactics since he first tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. There Satan offered additional knowledge to change the content of what God had said. It was false, but sounded deeply spiritual, and Adam and Eve really wanted what the devil served up instead. And so false doctrine began to be a problem that we still fall for if we don’t guard the truth that God has entrusted to us in His Word.

I’m extremely leery of books or sermons that use language offering to unlock “secrets” for us. That’s a clear indicator to me that the “new knowledge” game is being played again. I am suspicious when a televangelist looks at the camera and confidently says, “Let me tell you something you’ve never heard before.” There is reason it has never been said in doctrinally sound environments before! 

Although there are always personally profound personal applications of scriptural truth to be made daily, there really is no new doctrine to be found in God’s revealed Word! It is firmly established. It is settled. We must believe it, preach it, live it, and defend it against those who would preach a false gospel with their false “knowledge”. Let’s be sure to never add to the gospel (Jesus + politics; Jesus + good works; Jesus + social action; Jesus + Christian subculture) or subtract from it (Jesus - atonement; Jesus - sinfulness of humanity; Jesus - the satisfied wrath of God; Jesus - the exclusivity of the gospel)!

the point of it all

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

John 5:46-47

These words were spoken by Jesus in answer to the confrontation the Jewish religious leaders had with Him because He healed a lame man on the sabbath. They refused to marvel at the miracle and instead reacted at an insult of their own making. Jesus points out their hypocritical inconsistency. They claimed to adhere to the entire Law of Moses. Yet Moses clearly pointed to a redeeming Messiah yet to come. The story of the bronze serpent raised in the wilderness foreshadowed Jesus’ own atoning work. Moses’ personal prophecy of a “new prophet” God would raise up that Israel would listen to (Deuteronomy 18:15) would ultimately find complete fulfillment in Jesus alone. By disregarding Jesus, these people rejected Moses whom they claimed to obey in the fullest.

Genuine believers are receptive to the Word of God. They don’t use the Bible as a manipulative tool, but instead allow God to shape their hearts as they listen, respond, and obey to what God says. Those who truly believe what Moses wrote will hear how it points to Someone greater. They will hear what Jesus says. Jesus speaks God’s Word. All that Moses wrote, all that the prophets proclaimed, all that the history of the Old Testament pointed to, all that the story of God’s saving work among the peoples of the world shows... all of it... testifies clearly of Jesus. Jesus is the world’s only hope and salvation. It was true when Jesus confronted this unbelief. It is still the truth today.

All that people need is found in Jesus. He strengthens the weary. He forgives sinners. He heals the sick. He brings hope in despairing situations. He brings rest. He conforts the grieving. He is the resurrection and the life. Believe His own words about what all the Bible says and see how it all directs us to believe and trust Him! His grace, so much better than our self-righteousness, longs to bring us full blessing and peace. Look where it all points! Jesus is the point of it all.

a time to mourn over sin

And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

Daniel 9:15

The responsibility for the outcome of the Babylonian captivity lay squarely with a disobedient Jewish nation as Daniel makes this prayer of confession. The prophet Daniel came to this lengthy prayer of repentance after diligently spending time in the study of the prophet Jeremiah. There he read again of the events he lived as a young boy. There he saw the clear prophetic word given that Judah would be led away captive to Babylon for seventy years.

Now an older Daniel, under a new regime in Babylon led by King Darius the Mede, comes to the realization that Judah is getting closer to release from captivity with every passing day. The promise of the prophet Jeremiah would come to fruition after seventy years of total captivity. Daniel’s action upon this insight was to go to God in meaningful and real intercession for the captives. And he centered it all on confession, repentance, and the acknowledgement of his people’s great sin. Only in the very last verse (Daniel 9:19) does Daniel call upon God to keep His promise, forgive His people, and let them know His blessing on them again.

Daniel’s emphasis on mourning for sin and its consequences is instructive. Fourteen out of fifteen verses documenting this prayer are confessional. How opposite this is of my standard selfish prayers wanting only God’s gifts! The time has come to weep, to be repentant, and to be confessional over my sin, and the sins of God’s people in a cursed, confused, and captive world. A time to mourn, to be broken, and to care more for God’s holiness than our own condition is now upon us. It is absolutely the appropriate thing to do. Look around! What a mess our world is in! We need the healing work of Christ’s forgiveness like never before in modern times. And in Jesus we can see our only hope of deliverance as we confess to Him.

no slacking

Whoever is slack in his work

is a brother to him who destroys.

Proverbs 18:9

Lazy shortcuts, slacker attitudes of “just getting by”, and mediocrity have no place in the life of a person who follows Jesus. He gave everything for us! We work for the Lord. And Jesus deserves, as a significant aspect of our serious worship, the best attitude and actions that we can bring to our days. This means that even volunteers and part-timers should contribute the very best the have in their labor in honor of the Lord.

The disruptions of this last year have made it harder to do that. When quarantines and lockdowns became routine many people lost employment. Others of us had the circumstances and expectations of our careers downgraded for quite a length of time. The word “unprecedented” became an almost routine way to describe our situation. It has become easier to start to slack off. But any attitudes of worry, dependence, or extreme dissatisfaction can erode work ethics and destroy a lot of good. It takes re-centering on WHY we do what we do to begin to recover. Slacking destroys. But diligence to do our very best “no matter what” and in frequent changes is what will carry us beyond these disrupting circumstances.

I’m glad this little proverb comes as a reminder right now. The dark winter is breaking. Despite pandemic numbness, restriction burnout, Zoom fatigue, vaccine slowdowns, lumbering slow logistics,  and homebound weariness, there is strengthening hope in the reality of doing work “as to the Lord and not to men”. Serving Jesus well means the extra effort to overcome the drag of disruptive influences is worth the reward of His approving words of “well done” at the end of it all!

Lord,

You know the days and weeks ahead of me. I pray that You will remind me of this proverb, empower me by Your Spirit, encourage me in Your Word and by Your people, so that gospel ministry will impact my broken and hurting world. Make my work show Your glory and save me from slacking I pray!

Amen

The Lord reigns.

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;

let the many coastlands be glad!

Psalm 97:1

Reflecting on a God Who is worthy of my praise this morning takes conscious effort. Even as I meditate I am reminded He is always great and worthy of my whole-hearted worship. I have most of my cup of coffee in my belly and my sleep fog has lifted. I glance outside through the sliding glass door and see the first inklings of an eastern dawn as trees begin to silhouette against the graying horizon. I seek to work past the depressing news story that first greeted me when I unplugged my phone from the charger on the nightstand: A new variant of the corona virus is less affected by vaccines in the UK. All the noise and bad news of a sin cursed world needs to fade, and like the rising sun, worship needs to rise and bring my heart gladness again!

In the night, the LORD reigns. And as dawn enlightens this cold February morning, so this truth lights up my soul. In the uncertainty, the LORD reigns. Through these times as sin, sickness, and death still permeate the globe, there is a hope beyond this present sorrow. Jesus came and brought relief from all this! Rejoice now Christian! Your God reigns! Over this globe, our God reigns. The universe is His kingdom. And commitment to receiving, exploring, and announcing the Kingdom of our Christ is still my call today, no matter what. Reign, Lord Jesus, in me and across the globe to every coast.

The LORD reigns. Weary world... rejoice in Your King Who can strengthen you, heal you, comfort you, take away your fear, forgive your sin, and bless you with life forever in Him. O my soul believe it... the LORD reigns.

Sing Your Praise

Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.

1 Chronicles 9:33

At Your temple

in ancient days

set aside at all times

ready to sing Your praise

were Levites

whose sole occupation

was singing Your adoration

Ready to sing

at any moment

day or night

the need was met

in song

joyous celebration

from your praising nation

And even today

ready to praise

are Your children

whose voices raise

in wonder

at gospel salvation

Jesus is our adoration

service worth giving

Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses, from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:2-3

The sons of Kohath mentioned here were the subset of Levites tasked with the physical maintenance of the tabernacle in the wilderness. They kept the tent of meeting in the best shape possible for uninterrupted worship of the Lord. They moved the tent when Israel was led by God to break camp and travel to another location. They maintained the holiest implements of worship, charged with carrying the veiled ark, the lamp stand, basins, and altar. They were the physical labor force behind the levítical sacrificial system set up by God for Israel in the wilderness. They were the ministry backbone and muscle for the priesthood.

God called upon these men to serve for a two decade span in the prime of their lives. From maturity at age 30 until retirement at age 50, these men gave full attention to seeing that God was worshiped and Israel had access via the work of the priests in the place God designated for atonement that God would provide at the tabernacle. All the different subsets of Levite family clans had specific duties outlined by God in the book of Numbers. This well-ordered system kept the duties of worship clear among the Levites as men in their prime gave to God the best years of their lives in service at His tabernacle.

As I see this pattern, I am simply reminded there are no regrets in the service of the Lord. I’d have been retired from ministry years ago had I been born a Kohathite in the wilderness. But thankfully there are no such mandatory retirement restrictions under the New Covenant in Jesus! And thankfully we don’t have to lug bronze basins and altars around in the desert! All people are free to devote entire lifetimes to His worship, service, and the proclamation of the gospel. That’s service worth giving! That’s a life worth living!