Friday September 16, 2016

In Season, Out Of Season

-LEVITICUS 10:12-20

Key Verse:

"And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD? And when Moses heard that, he was content" (Leviticus 10:19,20).

In his book, "70 X 7: The Freedom of Forgiveness", David Ugsberger told a story of General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. When he lost his sight, his son, Bramwell, was given a difficult task of telling him there was no recovery. Booth asked: "Do you mean I am blind?" His son replied, "I hear we must contemplate that". Booth continued, "I shall never see your face again?" Bramwell replied again: "No, probably not in this world". General Booth finally said: "I have done what I could for God and for His people with my eyes. Now I shall do what I can for Him without my eyes". That was a man who was ready to serve God both in the moment of good health and affliction. In our text, Aaron had earlier lost his two older sons, Nadab and Abihu, who had paid dearly with their lives for disobeying God by offering strange fire unto Him. It was in this mournful situation that Moses tried to encourage Aaron and his other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, to continue with their God-assigned responsibilities as priests, but they refused. Reacting to this, Moses, though the meekest of all men, was angry with them for disobeying and dishonouring God by refusing to carry out the sacrifice. However, Aaron thought contrary. Though he knew God was just for punishing the iniquity of his sons, he was downcast with their death and was not in the right mood to carry on with his priestly duty at that moment, because he believed such sacrifice would not be accepted. With this explanation, the "holy anger" of Moses was therefore, pacified. Believers should learn from this. Like Moses, we should reason with people, be fair but firm in our judgments. Also, before taking decisions, salient issues should be considered to avoid making judgments that may cause further harm than good. However, when wronged, forgiveness is paramount.

Thought for the day: To err is human; to forgive is divine.

Bible Reading in one Year:PROVERBS 1 - 3