Year 4, Day 134: Numbers 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Up

• Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship.  If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position.  Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up.  This is why God needs to be in our Up position.

Who do you worship?  I’m not talking about just on Sunday mornings when you go to church.  Who do you worship in your waking moments of life?  What – or who - is the goal of your life?

I think the truth is that all of us worship multiple things in life.  I’d like to say that I am always worshipping God, but that’s just not true.  I do sin.  I’m not perfect.  Other things – sometimes other people – occasionally come between God and me.  I wish it weren’t so, but it is.

Here in Numbers 19, I think we get yet another glimpse into God’s concern for us to worship Him.  Look into God’s Word in verses 11-22.  God spends much time talking about how we deal with the dead.  I think God is cautioning us that if we’re not careful, our loved ones can become objects of worship.  After all, how many cultures throughout history practiced the worship of their ancestors?

Now look specifically into verse 12.  Notice that God tells the person who has touched a dead person that they are to wash on the third day and the seventh day.  Remember that these are especially holy numbers.  The number three represents God.  The number seven represents completion found in God.  It is significant to note that even in our process of burying our dead God makes certain to instill patterns within the process to remind us of Him.

We should always be aware of the one we are worshiping.  Our works always point to what or whom we are worshiping.  How we spend our time points us to what or whom we worship.  Even how we treat the dead truly demonstrates to us what or who we are worshiping.  So who do you worship?  How often do you really need God’s reminder to worship Him?

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