GOD'S TENANT FARMERS (Leviticus 25)

Make no mistake about it.  In God's economy, God owns us. He bought us with a price. Jesus traded His death for ours. The only choice we have is whether we accept the purchase or not; we can refuse it.

That thought came to me in reading Leviticus 25 this morning. In it, God says, "The land cannot be sold permanently because the land is mine and you are foreigners—you’re my tenants."  Later He says, "Treat him as a hired hand," in prohibiting slave trading between Israelites.

Every fifty years, Israel celebrated the year of jubilee.  Land was returned to ancestral owners, and slaves were set free. 

I am God's tenant. What on earth does that mean? A few thoughts:

• God provides what I need to work. 
• I should hold onto things lightly. They don't really belong to me, in any case.
• God expects us to maintain and improve what He gives to us.
• I should treat others as fellow tenants--I am no better nor worse than they are. We have an equal position before God. 
• God expects a return on His investment. He expects farmers to sow seeds and harvest. He expects teachers to teach. He expects writers--gulp--to write and share what they have written. 

As God's tenant, what do you feel He is asking you to do today?

JOB INTERVIEW (Exodus 34)

You're going to a job interview at the company that's at the top of your list. The job can make or break your career.

The problem is, the last time you worked there, you screwed up big time. They have no reason to take you back, but you're hoping maybe You can point out the things you did well. So you walk into the interview, and you see him. The person you considered your friend and mentor had fired you. You gulp. You can't rationalize your mistakes with this man. Maybe if you offer to work for free. . .

That's the situation Moses faced in Exodus 34. God wanted to wipe Israel out and start over again with Moses. Moses was pleading with God to stay with them, to honor His covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moses had no way to sugarcoat their behavior. Only days before they had worshipped the Golden Calf.  So he admits the truth: we are hard-headed. We are sinners, everyone of us. 

The only one of them who had any glimmer of worthiness was Moses himself. And he offered himself on behalf of his people. "If you see any good in me." 

Then, on behalf of the people who just left slavery behind, Moses asked, "Own us. Possess us." 

What a standard to live up to. God expects nothing less than our complete honesty--we can't exactly hide our sins from Him--and He demands nothing less than our lives. Later in this chapter, He tells them, "No one is to show up in my presence empty-handed."

Applying for a job in God's kingdom is not for the faint of heart.

GOD'S TATTOO (Exodus 28)

The high priest of Israel wore a gold headband on his forehead that read "HOLY TO THE LORD." The reason for the headband--the "so that" that Bible readers should always pay attention to--was "so that the offerings will be acceptable before God."

In the New Testament, God has designated all Christians as priests, and in Revelation, we learn that we will have something tattooed on our foreheads: His name. 

Hmm, somehow I missed that bit about the tattoo when I read those life-affirming, hope-sustaining words about  no more death nor crying nor pain, about the presence of the Lamb and no need for the sun to shine. 

We have been anointed, ordained, consecrated (we read about that in Exodus 28 as read) to the service of God. He puts His name on us with permanent ink; we'll never lose that job. 

But like Aaron and all His descendants, we cannot make an offering that is acceptable to God without that mark. 

Shades of Cain and Abel's sacrifices. One was acceptable, the other wasn't. 

Our offerings--the living sacrifice of our lives--is only acceptable to God in the extent to which we bear His name, His character, in our lives.