Be CAREFUL to ‘CONNECT’ with GOD through WORSHIP!
February
18 Bible Reading: Numbers Chapters 28-30
Be CAREFUL to ‘CONNECT’ with GOD through WORSHIP!
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
"Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to
Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.'"
(Numbers 28:1-2)
A closer
reading of Numbers 28 and 29 speak to us about how meticulously God had instituted
the practice of offerings among the
children of Israel. These offerings were “God’s
food” (v. 2) and they would be seasoned
by fire in order to be a sweet aroma
to God. These offerings were very important to God, and so God assigned the
children of Israel to bring offerings to Him daily (Num 28:3-8), on the Sabbath
day (vv. 9-10), and on the beginning of the month (vv. 11-15).
In addition
to these regular offerings that would recur on a daily, weekly and monthly
basis, the Israelites were also required to bring offerings to God during their
five important annual feasts:
Passover (vv. 16-25), Feast of Weeks (vv. 26-31), Feast of Trumpets (29:1-6),
Day of Atonement (vv. 7-11) and the Feast of Tabernacles (vv. 12-39). In fact,
during the Feast of Tabernacles the celebrations would last for eight consecutive days starting from the
15th day of the 7th month (v. 12), and on each of the
days the Israelites were to present
specific offerings to God (vv. 12, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35).
If God was
so specific concerning offerings with regards to the Israelites in the Old
Testament, what is His attitude concerning believers in the New Testament? In
order to understand this, we need to be clear about what kind of offerings God
expects from our lives. Hebrews 13:15 provides to us that information: "Therefore by Him let us continually
offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to His name" (Heb 13:15). It is clear that we need to offer to
God our “offerings of praise”, which
is the “fruit of our lips” that flows out of our thankful hearts.
Ideally, when should we offer our praises to God?
The answer is “continually”. This is
what God expects from us: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus for you." (1 Thess 5:18) "And
whatever you do in word or deed, do
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him" (Col 3:17).
We really do
not have a specific time to give our “praise
offerings” to God. We can praise God silently in every situation that we
encounter every day. We can praise God daily
for His mercy and compassion that are new every morning (Lam.
3:22-23), and for His faithfulness
every night (Psalms 92:2). We can enter His presence with praise and thanksgiving (Psalms 100:4), and live our lives of humble gratitude for all that God has already done for us!
Let us be
careful to connect with God regularly through our praise and worship as we
dwell in His presence!
