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!