Week 15 Tuesday
The priests are consecrated for service in Leviticus, David cries out from deep waters in Psalm 69, and persecution scatters the gospel all the way to Antioch, where Barnabas encourages a thriving new church.
Leviticus 8-9
📖 What are we reading?: Chapter 8 describes the consecration and ordination of the priests; in chapter 9 they perform their duties for the first time - and see the people's response at the end of the chapter!
✞ What does this passage say about God? He calls people into His service and marks them out for it, and He is worthy of the kind of fear and awe that sent the people facedown before Him.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? All of us, not only priests, can be consecrated to God for His service today. Perhaps we don't "fall facedown" before Him often enough anymore.
Looking for some extra info?
📰 Charles Wesley's hymn "A Charge to Keep I Have", which draws on this very picture of offering ourselves for God's service.
♫ Perhaps this worship session can help us fall facedown before Him today.
➡️ The bigger picture: Leviticus was given to Moses shortly after the tabernacle was completed, around 1400 BC, and no other book in the Bible contains as much direct speech from God. Its theme is holiness and separation, though a careful reader will find Jesus in the details of these ancient rituals.
Psalm 69:1-18
📖 What are we reading?: David cries out in deep distress in these opening verses - words the disciples later remembered when Jesus cleared the temple.
✞ What does this passage say about God? Even in the psalmist's darkest waters, God is the One he turns to for rescue, calling on His unfailing love and great mercy .
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? Verses 13-18 make for a good prayer - perhaps we should be praying these words rather than simply reading them today.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
Acts 11:19-30
📖 What are we reading?: Persecution scatters the believers as far as Antioch, where the gospel first reaches the Gentiles in large numbers, and Barnabas is sent to encourage this thriving new church.
✞ What does this passage say about God? He turns persecution into an opportunity for the gospel to spread further than ever, and He raises up people like Barnabas to build up what He is doing.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? Notice the generosity of the believers at the end of the chapter, sending relief to those in need - and notice too Barnabas' gift for encouraging and strengthening others in their faith.
Looking for some extra info?
📝 A devotional on Barnabas' gift for strengthening other believers, seen here in Antioch.
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's second book outlines the ministry of the early church - though it could just as well be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, as He guides and grows Jesus' small movement into something that changes the world.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that You call and consecrate ordinary people for Your service, that You are our refuge and rescue in life's deepest waters, and that You turn even persecution into new opportunities for the gospel to spread. Make us, like Barnabas, people who encourage and strengthen others in their faith. Amen.
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