Closer Day By Day

As you read through today’s passage, I want you to highlight or underline the following words or words to the same effect….

• perpetual statute
• statute forever
• day by day continually
• perpetual incense
• throughout your generations
• perpetual covenant

What am I talking about. Read the passage and let’s find out together…

Bible Passage: Exodus 29-32

Did you see those words as you were reading? Who were they referring to?

From Chapter 29-31, we continue to read about the preparation of the priests for their work and the different kinds of sacrifices, offerings and preparations that they had to make.

And when I read all those words or phrases that I mentioned in the beginning, I felt that they were constant reminders by God that their work was not a temporary one but rather a work that is to be done their whole life - faithfully.

Is Our Service To God A Perpetual One?

Last week when we read Exodus, we were reminded that we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).

We, after our baptism and coming under God’s name, are no longer ordinary people. For we have been anointed as royal priests to serve the King of Kings!

But how many of us lead our lives as though we are a priest?

When we catch the zeal, we are very active serving God in multiple ways.

When we lose the zeal, we are very active avoiding doing anything.

And yet, here we read that what we have with God is something perpetual, continual, throughout our generations. God did not call us for a moment of fervour and service only.

God is not our God just for the times when we are in danger or need His help desperately. He is there always.

And He requires us to serve Him always.

The problem is many a times we forget. And the slightest problem we face, or the faintest bit of criticism we receive, we stop doing what is right.

Worst still, at times, we are just like the Israelites in Chapter 32 and do something so foolish as to incur the great wrath of God.

Whenever I read Exodus 32, I always wonder how could the Israelites act this way. I mean, just think about it.

God was still very much in their midst at Mount Sinai. For many days, God’s presence descended on the mountain and there was a spectacular combination of thunder, lightning and smoke that made the people tremble with fear (Exodus 19:16; Exodus 20:18). Clearly, the people knew that they were in the presence of God.

Yet… despite the clear evidence before them, they fashioned an idol and began worshiping it (Exodus 32:1-6) just because of some imaginary problem that they envisaged because of the delay of Moses in coming down from the mountain.

Imagine how God must have felt! After giving Moses clear instructions on all the things He wanted His people to do, they reject Him in a most incredible way!

But when I think about how we behave today, I wonder if we are very much different from the people then. We are in His house, and yet, there are times we behave as if we are not His people.

There are areas in Church which requires our active service - but we choose to sit around and wait for someone else to do the work. Service like keeping the church neat and tidy. Service like coming to Church to worship God. Service like visiting the sick and caring for the weak. Service like evangelism.

All these are to be our continual sacrifice - daily. But we know for ourselves where we stand.

Consider this as we prepare for our Spiritual Meeting next week and let us put aside our worldly concerns and return to the heart of our worship and service to Him.

In the meantime, this old familiar hymn came to mind as I was considering today’s passage… “The Longer I Serve Him”. While it is easy to sing and we all love to sing it, putting the words into practice and experiencing the words in our lives is something that we have to work at.

But for those who have been faithful and serve God throughout their days and perpetually, they can truly sing “The Longer I Serve Him, The Sweeter He Grows”.