FBC Daily Devotional – January 17, 2022

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good morning. Good Monday morning to you. Hope your weekend went well. Hope you're doing well physically.

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A lot of people been sick with, well, colds or COVID or flu -like stuff going around in our area.

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I hope you're doing well. If you've been suffering from some of that sickness, may

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God in his grace heal you from it completely, and may you be back on your feet again soon.

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If you're doing well, staying healthy, thank the Lord for his goodness and his kindness to us, for his many benefits.

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Psalm 103 says that we bless the Lord for his many benefits, and one of those is that he heals us from our diseases.

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We get those diseases, but until we get the one that takes us to himself, then he brings us through them.

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Sometimes he brings us through those diseases and heals us from them by taking us to himself.

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I guess that'd be okay, too. Well, anyway, starting off to a new week. Today, we read in 1

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Chronicles chapters 9 and 10. Again, this is that section of scripture that is often skimmed through.

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A lot of detail stuff that has to do with the ministry at the temple and detail things that just don't seem to connect with us.

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We don't relate to them because we don't have temple worship, and we don't have priests doing their thing.

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We don't have Levites doing their thing. It seems like there's just kind of a disconnect between our world and theirs.

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What I want you to see in chapter 9 is in this kind of a breakdown of the different responsibilities of the

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Levites. I want to encourage you with something because here's the thing. The Levites were chosen of all the tribes of Israel to have responsibility for taking care of worship at the tabernacle and the temple.

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And, of course, in 1 Chronicles, this is responsibilities that were divvied out by David to care for the various responsibilities in the tabernacle.

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As we look at these things, what I want us to see is just how mundane they are.

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So look at this. Look at the various ways that the Levites served the

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Lord, and they were serving the Lord. In chapter 9, verse 17, it says the gatekeepers were, and then they itemized several different individuals who simply kept the gates.

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I would think of them as like ushers, doorkeepers at the house of the

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Lord. You know, you go to church on Sunday morning, and generally you come in the door, and there's someone there to greet you, hand you a bulletin, or whatever.

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That would be a job of a Levite in the Old Testament. They were gatekeepers.

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In verse 28, there were some who were in charge of the serving utensils.

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They brought them in, and they took them out by count. Think of that in terms of taking care of the kitchen.

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They had to make sure that the serving utensils that were used, and the sacrifices, and so forth, that they were clean, and that there were the right number of them.

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They were responsible for seeing to it that they were brought out, put to use, taken back in, clean, put away, brought out, and so forth every day.

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That was their job, just washing dishes. And then in verse 29, there were others who were appointed over the furnishings, and over all the implements of the sanctuary.

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They had to take care of the furniture, making sure the furniture was dusted, and cleaned, and cared for properly.

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They were responsible for polishing the silver, or bronze, or gold, or whatever it was in the different utensils or different furnishings.

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But they had responsibility for the furniture. And then the next statement here in the same verse, verse 29, says there were some that were over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the incense, and the spices.

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In other words, they were responsible for the groceries. They had to go down to the Walmart, make sure that there was enough of the flour, and the wine, and so forth.

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They had to get those things, and make sure they were well -stocked at the temple, the tabernacle.

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And they were available when it was time to make the showbread, for making the different things, and to pour in the wine, and the sacrifices, and so on.

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That was their job. They went to the grocery store. And then there were some who were bakers.

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Verses 31 and 32. Verse 30, I should say. Some of the sons of the priests made ointment for the spices.

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They were like perfumers. They had to mix together the spices to make the ointments.

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Verse 31 is where the bakers come in. Some who were trusted over the office of things that were baked in the pans.

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And some of their brethren were in charge of preparing the showbread. Those were these flat loaves of bread that were baked every

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Sabbath. They were brought out, new fresh loaves were brought out every Sabbath, and the old ones were taken away.

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Now here's the thing. They were just simply baked bread. So some of these people, they attended the doors.

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Some washed dishes. Some got groceries. Some made spices or perfumes.

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Some went and got the groceries. Some did the baking of the different goods that need to be baked.

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And how many of those things do you think of as being particularly spiritual? And yet they were all ways of serving the

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Lord. Isn't that interesting? What do you think of when you think of serving the

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Lord? Do you think you have to have some kind of a teaching ministry to serve the

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Lord? You have to have some kind of a special office in the church to serve the Lord? Serve on a committee of some kind to serve the

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Lord? It can be as something as simple as going to the grocery store and getting stuff that's needed for a potluck dinner or a church function or anything like that.

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Making food for a church function, a potluck supper, where you're serving others.

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You're serving the Lord. These very mundane things, very mundane ways that we can serve the

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Lord. Well, let me just encourage you, whatever way that God has called you to serve him, serve the

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Lord with gladness. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

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Because that which your hand finds to do, that which God's called you to do with your hands, is the way that you serve the

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Lord. Seemingly mundane as it might be, serve the

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Lord and do it with gladness. So our Father, we do thank you today that we don't have to be great spiritual warriors with great positions in the church to serve you.

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We just need to do what you've called us to do and do it with our might and to serve you with gladness.

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Help us to do that. Even today we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

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Well, I hope you have a good rest of your Monday and God will help you get your week off to a great start as you serve the