Exodus: Serving

A special ephrod, breastplate and turban are called by God to be made for Aaron in Exodus 28. Again with lots of details, from the types of fabric to the colors, as well as all the symbolism from the stones to the placement of things, all under God's command. But you dont fully understand how important this is until you reach verse 35. It says that if Aaron does not wear such things, he will die when he comes out of the presence of God. Its striking to see how serious God is about all these things even though they may seem like simple garments to us.

"so they may serve me as priests" is said three times in this chapter, in verses 1, 3 and 4. You know something is important when it is repeated over and over again in the bible. I think the main word here is "serve". We're called to serve God, we should want to serve Him after all he has done for us. Although some of us may be really eager to serve and want to dive head first, we must reflect and evaluate the reasons why we are deciding to serve, and what it means.

It means we are to step down to a servant level. So many times when we serve, we take on the role as worship leader, or bible study writer or something where there's a title that may cause one to think they are "higher" than the others. But the fact is, we are stepping down to serve others. We should not have a mentality of "im ruling over the rest of you because i have this title" but instead to have a heart to give and use your talent, dedicated to God and your work for him.

Second, it always starts at the heart. Do we have the heart to serve? Are you humble and dedicated? Will we serve wholeheartedly? Service calls for us to sacrifice time, work and efforts. We should not be expecting recognition, and we should not have pride either. At the same time, as discussed before, God deserves the best. In the chapter, he asks for the finest linen, gold, and gems to be used on the garments. We need to be giving God the best with everything we have.

"leaders serve God and others as slaves serve a master."

verse of the day: 1 Peter 4:10

¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.