Jan 29 - Ex. 25-28

“Bring an offering of whatever your heart prompts you to give.” God was giving people a chance to supply the material for the tabernacle and the priestly garments. After all, the Egyptians gave them a bunch of cloth and precious metals. Yet, right before God gives the details, and I mean details of the tabernacle and how it is to be fashioned, He says to the people – “bring what you want.”

In my life I get to bring what I want. (Of course this is over and above the tithe that is God’s) I can give according to my heart, but here is the kicker – there are only certain things that God wants. If you brought some pine or some black cloth, your gift wasn’t going to be accepted. Ponder that for a moment.

Then there was the ephod, the decision breast piece and the turban with “Holy To The Lord” on it that Aaron had to wear, (as well as the undergarment). You had to have everything on to appear before the Lord OR you were guilty and would die. I recall that this is the physical view of what is spiritual or in the spiritual realm. It is the same for us NOW in our day. There is a seal on our head and a garment that we wear. There is a breastplate and a decision making breast piece that we should have on. We don’t die if we appear before God without them, however if we apply it spiritually we can see what the scriptures are saying to us. Our priestly duties are serious and we need to have the spiritual garments on in order to carry them out. (To find out about our priestly duties, ask someone who was at the Thursday night Bible Study 3 weeks ago). The glib, “I got it covered” type attitude with God will bring a pride which will in turn bring a type of death to our ministry as priests. We have an open throne, a wonderful Father, a gracious Savior, and we can approach them boldly and even just “hang out” with them, however to forget who they are (not on our same level) and how we get to approach them, (not by anything we have done), is to encounter a spirit of pride that can only bring death to our ministry and our very lives.