GOD'S MIDAS TOUCH (Exodus 29)

The Altar will become soaked in holiness--anyone who so much as touches the Altar will become holy. (Exodus 29:37, MSG)

King Midas is famous for turning anything he touched into gold. A cautionary tale, because when he hugged his beloved daughter, she also turned into a gold statue. 

Instead of gold, imagine a touch that made things holy. 

Wow. 

Whether we mean holy as in dedicated and set apart for God--
Or holy as in one perfect in goodness.

Wow.

Well, we can cross the second one off the list. The only perfect, good, righteous person without a single mark against his name is the God-man, Jesus Christ. His touch on our lives makes us righteous, holy before God. All I can do is point people to Him. 

But maybe, just maybe, I can soak up that holiness. Maybe the more I reflect Him, the more my touch changes the people and situations I encounter. 

Lord, give me that kind of Midas touch. 

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. 

INVITING GOD IN (Exodus 25)

"Let them construct a Sanctuary for me so that I can live among them." 

Isn't this picture dramatic? There is the Tabernacle, with the 12 tribes encamped around it, and the pillar of fire rising from the center of the camp, a visible indication of God's presence among them.

But for that to happen, the Israelites had to start with an invitation: they had to construct the Sanctuary, the place set apart for God, for God to live among them. God came and remained among them, until Ezekiel's frightening vision of God's glory leaving the temple centuries later. 

Today the Holy Spirit lives inside of Christians. I could make this evangelistic: as Jesus says in Revelation, if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in. . . 

But today what strikes me is the need to get ready. I can't kick the Holy Spirit out. He's there to stay, the down payment of eternal life. 

But I can turn away from the life God calls me to live. If I'm not ready, God can't use me, His present-day Sanctuary, for the purposes of sacrifice and worship and drawing people near to God. 

In the words of the praise song, Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary. 

THE GOLDEN RULE FOR ENEMIES (Exodus 23)

I've about decided that after God gets to the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20, He turns downright meddlesome.

I don't care for what He had to say today much at all: If you find your enemy's ox or donkey loose, take it back to him.  If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, don’t walk off and leave it. Help it up. (Exodus 23:5, MSG)

Not someone you hate, but someone who hates you. It takes the golden rule to a whole different level. "Do unto others--even the ones who hates you and want to harm you--as you would have them do unto you." 

The poor donkey. It's not his fault whom he belongs to. But you have to do more than stand him up. You have to bring him back. You have to go and talk civilly to that enemy. 

I am sitting here thinking of applications of that principle in my life. The closest I can come is my strained relationship with my ex-husband. Several times he and his wife have offered to help me. At the time I entered the nursing home, he needed a car. So my son suggested he use mine, maintain it, and all of that.  

It took me time to agree, but I decided I shouldn't let past resentment interfere with a plan that benefited both of us. 

Loving your enemies--maybe it's as simple as offering them a ride.

Worker's Comp (Exodus 21)

I confess I don't understand the laws about slavery.

If an owner hit a slave with a stick and he recovered, the slave didn't have any recourse. 

A few verses later, God says, if an owner ruins the slave's eye, the owner must let the slave go free. 

Losing an eye, that's pretty serious. Okay.

Right after that, God says, if an owner knocks out the slave's tooth, the owner must let the slave go free. 

But, a tooth? In a society without dental care, where people probably lost a lot of teeth as the years passed? A beating was okay, but if he lost a tooth after the master hit him, he'd regain his freedom?


A tooth reminds me of the number of hairs on our head, or a sparrow that falls. God notices everything that happens to us, big or small. 

The bottom line is clear: don't mistreat your slaves. Not just the big things, like "don't kill him" or "don't blind him."  It included the little things too, like "don't knock out his teeth." 

God pays attention to everything that happens to us--and that we do to others. 

YOU'VE BEEN REPLACED

Four short words from Exodus 19 caught my attention this morning.

"and the priests also"

I thought about it. The priests. This was before God had set apart Aaron and his sons for the priesthood, or assigned the Levites priestly duties. 

So what priests was God referring to? I assume that were His servants, not priests of an Egyptian religion, or else God would not be giving them a job. 

Someone was performing the priestly function for the Israelites before the priesthood was established. Then, in a flick of the hand, they were replaced. Banned, in fact. Unless they also happened to be Levites.

It makes me think of a pastor I once worked with. He was associate pastor, in charge of administration, education, and music. He did a good job juggling all three responsibilities, but he loved leading the music for our congregation.

Then one week, without any vote by the congregation, our new pastor announced that his college buddy would lead the music from then on. That our "music" minister would continue with the (my words, not his), the "grunt" work--visiting the elderly, the shutins, making sure the work of the church ran smoothly.  

He didn't complain, at least not publicly--but he left the church within a short time.

Unpleasant. Uncomfortable, Unfair, I would have said. 

Even in God's kingdom, apparently people can be replaced, positions changed. What I am called to do tomorrow may be different than what I am doing today.

What I am doing today isn't what I expected when I graduated from Bible College  and seminary. I have gone from musician to educator to writer, although I continue doing all three to some extent. Leaving music was the hardest, since that was the place where I felt "called."

Words of wisdom? Not especially. Change is uncomfortable--but it is mostly likely God-ordained. 

CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS (Exodus 16)

You haven't been complaining to us--you've been complaining to God! (Exodus 16:8, MSG)

What would you think if the next time you called a business to complain about the service,  God answered the phone?

I don't know about you, but I've done my share of complaining this week. So when I read Moses's words to the Israelites, I said to myself, "ouch!"

They asked, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt in order to starve us to death?" 

Did they really doubt that the God who brought them through the sea on dry land before drowning the Egyptians was going to let them starve? Apparently so. 

It's easy to fall into the trap of basing on my faith on how I feel this morning. And this week I've had several bad days, days when I have had to wait for aides for an hour, and then listened to them grouch and complain as if taking care of me wasn't their job. 

So I complained about it. To other aides. To other residents. Did I accomplish anything? Not what I wanted. I got others upset as well, instead of lifting them up and encouraging them to gentleness and peacefullness and joy.

On top of that, I was really complaining to God. "Why did You stick me here, with these people who don't care about me?" 

It's not even true. Some of the workers might see me as little more than an item on their checklist, it's true, but they do work hard and try to take care of everyone. 

I don't need to be a doormat--but I can extend grace. And patience.

The good thing is, God listens. He's the person I should have "complained" to in the first place. 

And every now and then He sends a day like today when the night staff comes when called and the morning staff gets me up first instead of last.

My manna and quail from heaven.