I confess that reading the details of building the tabernacle is growing wearisome for me. So after I read, I sat with the text before me and sought something from the account to ponder. The closing paragraph, and particularly the imagery of Aaron and sons keeping the lamp burning within the tent of meeting outside the Ark of Covenant, drew me in.
Why, I wondered was this so important?
Why must the lights be ‘kept on’ every night?
The text is silent about ‘the why’… so I wondered and thought. What did this communicate? What did this say about God or the way we are to treat God and God’s things?
Slowly the idea emerged… God is to be tended to day and night. God is never gone, and so His people are to keep the signs of life ‘burning’ before Him.
When a neighbor’s house is dark, I think no one is home. When I go away, when neighbors go away, we leave lights on so the house looks ‘lived in.’ God’s ‘house’ the tabernacle must look lived in, because it is. God is always present and we must treat it so.
Keeping the lights lit is a sign of respect, of honor, of importance...
How can I (we) show the Lord respect, honor and importance today?? This question startled me, but also challenged me. How do I?
My daily times in God’s Word and prayer…
My weekly times of corporate worship, gathering with others who believe and saying by my presence, ‘Lord, You are important to me.’
It is giving sacrificially to causes that honor the Lord; taking of what I have and giving it to the Lord’s work; and honoring other people, treating them with the dignity that being made in the image of God deserves, even when their actions and words are far less that God’s image in us deserves.
I guess it comes down to seeking to love neighbor and God… this is how we honor, respect and show the importance of the Lord.
Thank You, Lord, for this journey with You today. My musings surprise me since the reading didn’t grab me at first. How wonderful You are, drawing me into a space that surprised me.
Lord, I pray that my life will show my respect for You, my honor of You and the importance You are in my life and for the world which You have made. Bless You, Lord, God. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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