Today’s Reading Exodus 19-21
Focal Scripture: Exodus 19:22 “Even the priests who come near the Lord must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out in anger against them.”
How we approach the Lord matters. To often people approach God with so much familiarity they forget just how holy and different he is compared to everything else. In these versus today Moses is given instructions on how he, the people and the priests are to approach the LORD.
That word consecrate is a word that is not used very often in today’s language. It means to be removed from common use or to be set apart for a particular purpose. In this context God was wanting everyone including the priest to set themselves apart before they came to worship. The hearts, attitudes and minds of the people had to be taken care of before right worship could happen.
This tells us a lot about how we should approach worship today. To often churches sing songs, give offerings, listen to sermons and nobody is consecrated before the Lord. It is just another event on the calendar of the day. A mark to be checked off because that is the way things have always been done in this church. However, what if God demands more from us before we worship.
Biblical evidence would suggest that God wants us to consecrate ourselves before him just like he wanted the Israelites to before they worshiped. Romans 12:1-2 is just one example of this being the case. It is very distressing to watch people worship or lead worship who have not consecrated themselves before the Lord. A simple test of a person who is consecrated is how do they approach worship themselves. Who gets the most attention during worship?
True worship. A heart, life and mind that is consecrated to the Lord is one that does not look like everyone else. They do not speak the same, pray the same, act the same, study the same, love the same, or even lead the same as their secular counterparts. A consecrated life is set apart for God. He is the sole focus of worship because he is all that matters.
I challenge you today consecrate yourself to the Lord. Be different. It will change how you worship.
Tomorrow’s Reading Exodus 22-24
