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Transcription
The reading from Numbers chapter 18 discusses the Levites' responsibility to tithe and present offerings to the Lord. It emphasizes the importance of sacrificial giving and being faithful to the covenant relationship with God. The passage also mentions John Wesley and the early Methodists' belief in practicing generosity as a crucial part of discipleship. The overall theme is the covenant of sacrificial love between God and His people. Welcome to Christchurch's Daily Devotion for March 20th, 2024. Today we will be reading from Numbers, chapter 18, verses 25 through 29. The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Levites and say to them, When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord's offering. Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. In this way you will also present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord's portion to Aaron the priest. You must present as the Lord's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you. Being created in the image of God, we are created with a longing to be in relationship with God. The words which have described this relationship throughout the centuries are to be in communion with God or to be in covenant with God. We can rest in the assurance that God is the covenant-making initiator. God reaches faithfully and mercifully toward humanity with sacrificial love to restore us to be forgiven and reunited to God's own heart and will. God loves us enough to call us to be faithful to our part of this covenant relationship as well. Numbers chapter 18 through 19 are described in the commentaries as the priestly writer's guidelines for approaching God. The guidelines are the response to the Israelites' fear of perishing in the presence of Yahweh, one of their names of God. One of the commitments God instructed is that they themselves, the Levites, must tithe. A tithe was an offering of 10% of their own wages. Sacrificial giving was at the core of the covenant between God and the children of Israel. Verse 29 is a good theme statement for their part in that covenant. You must present as the Lord's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you. Be applied to the firstfruits of grain, wine, and oil, any devoted thing, and the firstborn of clean animals. Although we no longer bring the firstfruits of the firstborn of clean animals, how we use and share what we have matters to God. This covenant of sacrificial love demonstrated by sacrificial giving from God to the people and from the people unto God is the theme of all scripture. It is a holy mystery, but it is the way of God's faithfulness unto the people and God's call for the people to be faithful to. Your personal worship option today is John Wesley and the early Methodists practiced generosity as a necessary and indispensable aspect of discipleship. Essential for the maturing of the soul and the work of the church. He taught them to gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. Lord, open our hearts to live giving all that we can. Amen.
