HALFWAY OR GOD’S WAY
Vanessa Pesavento
Today’s Scripture: "Then Moses said to Aaron, 'This is what the Lord has said: "Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified."' And Aaron held his peace." Leviticus 10:3, ESV
Theme: God's instructions are not to be ignored; doing so is destructive.
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
There are two types of people in this world – those that love the satisfaction of putting something together and those who open the instructions and have immediately made a mistake by step two. Now some of you are a part of a very special group that omits the instructions all together. You may see that little booklet as more of a suggestion than actual instructions. I have never in my life successfully put something together. I attempted to put floating shelves up in my room a few years ago... I figured I could skip the steps of measuring the wall and deciding where to put everything and just start hammering away. Needless to say, I was left with extremely crooked shelves.
From time to time, all of us have thought of taking a short cut, right? Missing one screw can’t be that big of a deal when there are like 100? WRONG. Deviating from the instructions always leads to the project ending in slight disappointment. Even when things seem good, that one missing screw was the thing that was going to hold it all together.
STABILITY TEST
When you are left with a project that is halfway put together, you often have to do more work than you would have if you just started by following the instructions. It fails the stability test. In our Scripture of the day, Nadam and Abihu offer fire that the Lord had not commanded. This resulted in a fire that consumed them, and they died! They weren’t following the Lord’s instructions; they did something their own way.
Now you haven't literally died from not following the Lord's instruction, but take a moment and think what hardships have you endured by not doing things God’s way? When have you tried to skip ahead to the next thing or taken your own path that you thought was better?
Make It Personal: Take some time today and think about the last thing God told you to do. Ask yourself, did you actually do it? It could be as simple as committing to coming to church every week, praying daily, or to stop speeding on the highway. What was the last instruction you received from the Lord? What do you need to do to follow that? Sometimes it might even look like reevaluating a decision you made in the past and getting back to how God would have you handle it.
Pray: Lord, thank You for Your goodness and that You give us free will to make our own choices. Today I am asking for strength to follow Your instruction and for discernment over all of my decision making. Thank You that You are so good to us and that I can have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. I love You and praise You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Read: Leviticus 10:1-3; Hebrews 9:1-10
Weekly Memory Verse: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 (ESV)