The other day I drove down to visit with Mom and Dad. As I walked into their kitchen it looked like a jigsaw puzzle factory had exploded. Puzzle pieces littered the dining table like countless grains of sand. 2000 grains to be exact. My mom loves jigsaw puzzles. The day was pleasant, the back door was open, and the gentle, cool breeze meandered in to join us at the table. I sat down to chat with mom and as I did, the pieces called. Help me, we need you! I’ve never been a big jigsaw puzzle guy, but hey, when in Combine…
There’s an odd logic to jigsaw puzzles. It’s literally broken down to the lowest common denominator and you work in reverse, building backwards into complexity. Mom has a big lazy susan that she puts the puzzle pieces on so you can easily spin it around to grab a piece that might catch your eye. We sat there and chatted as we explored the myriad of options before us. Taking many small pieces and assembling them into a picture that has great clarity and beauty. Folks, this is the beauty of God’s Holy Word.
I sat down early this morning with Leviticus chapter 8 and it deals with the consecration (dedication) of the priests of the tabernacle. It was a big ceremony, directed by God and performed by Moses. It’s a long chapter with tremendous detail and as I read it, it felt like I was looking at those few thousand jigsaw pieces scattered about. But just like the puzzle, enough time, patience and focus and the Holy Spirit will show you a few pieces to snap together, until at last, you have the beginnings of a beautiful picture.
At first glance what you see is a hodge podge of ceremony, oil, blood, fire and special clothing. But after going deeper, God put the pieces together. It's not just how Aaron and his sons can be consecrated into God’s service in 1500 BC, but how we can be consecrated into God’s service today in 2019 AD.
The steps are all here, let’s take a look at how Leviticus 8 informs us of the steps to take to be dedicated to God’s use.
1) You can’t serve God if you don’t know God.
“He then presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.” Lev 8:18
Serving God is personal, there’s no way around it. God sent His Son to die for you so that you can be united with God eternally. To do that you must reach out and make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior. Aaron and his sons placed their hands upon the head of the sacrifice to personally associate with the sacrifice needed to atone for their personal sins against God. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ and you can know Jesus personally. This is step one, you can’t truly know God and serve God if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
2) You must be clean to be used by God.
“Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.”
God will not put sparkling clean water in a dirty vessel. “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” 2 Tim 2:21. God desires to use vessels that are clean to carry His message to the world. Now you might be asking, “but how do I do that if I have a sin nature and struggle with sin?” Great question. We were all born with a sin nature and we all struggle with that old nature. But folks, when you accepted Jesus Christ, you were born again, born a new creature. You have a new nature, a new disposition, a new outlook upon life. You are now a child of God. As a result, you should learn to hate sin in your life. Sin grieves God’s Holy Spirit and creates distance between you and God. Don’t just casually stroll away from sin in your life…run from it. Aaron and his sons had to be symbolically washed before they could serve God and we do to. The best way to be clean before the Lord is honesty. Confess your sins to Him, tell Him what you’re struggling with and what you’ve done. Be honest with God, pray to Him to create in you a pure heart and through this daily routine you can approach the service of God, clean before Him.
3) Suit up and show up.
“And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band.” Lev 8:7
If you serve God, you need to dress appropriately. No, I’m not talking about ordering a Moses or Peter costume from Amazon, I’m talking about Holy, symbolic clothing. God required Aaron to don a special suit of clothes that spoke of God, honored God and suited proper service to God. In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul famously tells us about the armor of God. My friends here is the clothing that you must don in your service to God. Put it all on and put it on every day.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
4) You are anointed.
“And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.” Lev 8:12
The moment you ask Jesus Christ to save you from your sins one of the biggest miracles in the world happens…the Holy Spirit of God moves into your heart, your life and your soul and it changes you forever. Some people say miracles don’t happen today, but folks when you see someone saved by Jesus, you’re seeing a modern day miracle of God. As the Holy Spirit of God moves into a believer it is considered an anointing. We see here that Moses anointed Aaron with oil. Oil represents the Holy Spirit throughout God’s Word. Take careful notice that in chapter 8 there is a “sprinkling” and an “anointing.” Folks, an anointing is a drenching. Listen to this from over in Psalms 133:2, “It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments” Aaron was drenched in oil! Folks when the Holy Spirit moves into our hearts, He drenches us! We are covered in God’s goodness, love, peace, mercy and grace. The very Spirit of God will guide our lives, convict us of sin and allow us to love others as only He can love. Only through the Holy Spirit can you truly hope to serve God to the full.
5) You’re prepared, now get busy.
“Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.” Lev 8:23
You’ve got Jesus, a clean heart, the Holy Spirit of God living within you and you’re dressed in the armor of God, folks, it’s time to get busy. The blood on the ear symbolizes an ear that will readily hear God. This is a life that is steeped in God’s Word. Studying it daily, meditating on it day and night and storing it up in the heart. Blood on the right thumb symbolizes a life in service to God. God in your heart will move your hands. You’ll get busy for God. No longer is it good enough to just sleep through church every Sunday, the Holy Spirit will move your hands. The blood on the right foot symbolizes a righteous walk before God. What does your neighbor say about you? What about your boss or your employees? What about your spouse? Does your walk reflect Christ?
Wow, what an amazing message here in Leviticus 8. What at the surface appears to be a boring, outdated ancient text, is actually an amazing outline for how we can all be fully consecrated to the service of God. Folks, it’s not somebody else that sells out to serving God, it’s anybody that calls on Jesus and if you have, this means you. It may seem difficult or maybe even impossible to think of fully serving God, but He is capable. All you have to do is sit down, be still, focus on God and His Word and let Him guide you as you put all of those little puzzle pieces together until you see a beautiful picture of Jesus.
God bless you as you serve Jesus today.
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