7/20/2008 8:50 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God wants His people to be clean
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Exodus 30:17-21; 38:8
Message of the verses: “17 ¶
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18
"You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze,
for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar,
and you shall put water in it. 19 "Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands
and their feet from it; 20 when they
enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not
die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a
fire sacrifice to the LORD.
21 "So they
shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall
be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their
generations.’”
“8 Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with
its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the
doorway of the tent of meeting.”
The bronze
laver was made from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway
of the tent of meetings as Ex. 38:8 records.
The Bible does not tell what the size of it was or how it was carried
from place to place when the tabernacle was taken down and carried to the next
place where God would lead His children.
The brazen laver set between the altar and the tent of meetings and was
used by the priests to wash their hands and feet each day before they would
enter into the tent of meetings to perform their duties. Their feet would get dirty by walking on the
dirt and their hands would dirty from offering sacrifices. If they did not wash their hands and feet
they could loose their life, for God wants clean children.
The Bible
uses drinking water to symbolize the Holy Spirit and washing water symbolizes
the Word of God. “37 ¶ Now on the last day, the great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him
come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture
said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’" 39 But
this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;
for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John
7:37-39) “You are already clean because
of the word which I have spoken to you.”
(John 15:3) Now because the laver
was made out of mirrors that also pictures the water in it as the Word of
God. “22
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who
delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not
a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone
away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But
one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by
it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will
be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and
yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion
is worthless.” (James 1:22-26)
It is good
to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ washed the feet of His disciples in the
upper room the night that He would be betrayed.
The question came up as to why this would be done to them and He
answered that they only needed to have their feet cleaned because the rest of
them were already clean. Jesus was
saying to them that because they were saved they were clean, but as they walked
around in the world they would sin and need to confess their sin to the Lord in
order to have fellowship with Him again.
“If we aren’t cleansed, we can’t have fellowship with the Lord (John
13:8), and if we’re out of fellowship with the Lord, we can’t enjoy His love or
do His will. When we confess our sins,
He cleanses us, and when we meditate on the Word, the Spirit renews us and
restores us.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have always believed that I need to keep a
short list with the Lord, that is if I sin that I am to confess my sin in order
to have fellowship with Him. I am sure
that there are times when I do not follow this and then I have to pray as David
did in Psalm 139:23-24, that the Lord would search my heart: “3
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious
thoughts; 24 And see if there be any
hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- To ask the Lord to search my heart today.
- To seek the Lord to guide my path today.
- To trust the Lord to show me a way of escape when things get to hard for me.
Memory verses for the week: Exodus
20:1-3
- Then God spoke all these words, saying,
- I am
the Lord your God who brought you out of the
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
7/20/2008 9:37 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment