Numbers 18:7: “Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

January 28th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The first thing we notice here is that God was speaking directly to Aaron, which happened only twice in Scripture, here and Leviticus 10:8. Usually God spoke directly to Moses, but in this case He deemed the subject matter important enough to personally have an audible conversation with Aaron. The Creator of the Universe was giving Aaron direct orders regarding God’s gift of service. This is a beautiful picture of what it means to be used by the Lord. God says that He chose Aaron and his sons to be His priest (servants) as “a gift for service.” God was underscoring the fact that it was not because they deserved or earned this service but because of God’s good grace. It was not merited because of any past service they had rendered God or because of their personal holiness. It was grace at work in their lives, a service given to them as a gift, not based in any way on their worthiness.

In the New Testament Paul reminds us that we too have been given a gift:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8–10).

Paul is pointing out that we owe our salvation entirely to the undeserved favor of God. Although faith is present, God’s grace is the instrumental cause of that faith. Faith is not a quality or a virtue that we can produce. It is simply a trustful response that is itself given to us through the Holy Spirit. What would never have been ours, but for the generosity of God, is now ours for eternity. None of Aaron or his sons’ service came to them by personnel devotion, piety, or personal effort; and we can be encouraged that our salvation and service to God has not come to us for any of those reasons either.

“LORD, we are struck again by the astoundingly good gifts You have bestowed on us this day. Help us to put them to good use for Your Kingdom.”