He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. Psalm 105:26.
Aaron was a man of amiable disposition, whom God selected to stand with Moses and speak for him…. God might have chosen Aaron as leader; but He who is acquainted with hearts, who understands character, knew that Aaron was yielding and lacked moral courage to stand in defense of the right under all circumstances, irrespective of consequences. Aaron’s desire to have the good will of the people sometimes led him to commit great wrongs…. The same lack of firmness for the right in his family resulted in the death of two of his sons…. Nadab and Abihu failed to reverence the command of God to offer sacred fire upon their censers with the incense before Him….
Here is seen the result of loose discipline. As these sons of Aaron had not been educated to respect and reverence the commands of their father, as they disregarded parental authority, they did not realize the necessity of explicitly following the requirements of God…. Contrary to God’s express direction, they dishonored Him by offering common instead of sacred fire. God visited them with His wrath; fire went forth from His presence and destroyed them.
Aaron bore his severe affliction with patience and humble submission. Sorrow and keen agony wrung his soul. He was convicted of his neglect of duty. He was priest of the most high God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. He was priest of his household, yet he had been inclined to pass over the folly of his children. He had neglected his duty to train and educate them to obedience, self-denial, and reverence for parental authority. Through feelings of misplaced indulgence, he failed to mold their characters with high reverence for eternal things. Aaron did not see, any more than many Christian parents now see, that his misplaced love and the indulgence of his children in wrong was preparing them for the certain displeasure of God…. His gentle remonstrance, without a firm exercise of parental restraint, and his imprudent tenderness toward his sons were cruelty in the extreme.7Testimonies for the Church 3:293-295.
Conflict and Courage p. 102
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—–Please pray that B will get the job the Lord wants him to have. L
—— Prayers requested as we move to Oklahoma this Sunday—it might be good for our house to close before we move in! Rich
—–Praise— Praise be to God for His mercy endures forever. I had locked my key in the Tahoe yesterday, and don’t have a backup one. After praying about it, I was able to unlock my door with the key to my Honda ATV. I should note that these keys don’t even look the same. Thank you God for your kindness. Hudson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
My Aunt Joyce loved children. Whenever she was at church or anywhere that a baby might be, she would be the one carrying it around or baby-sitting it. When I was born, she was delighted. Now she had a baby to love and care for right in her own home. Auntie Joyce spent much of her paycheck on me. She wanted me to have the best. Yet, no matter what wonderful thing she bought, I had much more fun playing with the box that it came in. You can imagine how she felt. She had worked hard for her money, and planned and saved to get me the best toys to play with, but I just set them aside and played with its worthless container.
How easy it is for us to do the same with God’s gifts. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 He “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt 5:45 Daily He lavishes His blessings upon us, yet we act as if these blessings were our right and something we deserve. How it must break His Great Heart of Love when we take these gifts for granted.
How often we are content to “play with the box” and do not ask for those gifts He is just waiting to shower upon us. Our Dear Saviour bids us, “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.”
Luke 11:9-13, John 15:7
Sadly, we do not receive half the spiritual, physical, or material blessings that God longs to bestow upon us, because if He gave them to us, we would not even recognize that they came from our Loving Creator. David sang, “Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.” 1 Chron 16:8-12 “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Ps 107:8 Paul writes, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thes 5:18
Thankfulness brings a great blessing upon ourselves. With thankfulness within us and upon our lips, how our heart will swell with joy and love for our Great Redeemer! How we will long to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Our greatest joy will be to follow Him! Our thoughts will be filled with His praises. Our tongue will speak of His goodness. The trials and perplexities of life will fade as we focus upon His self-sacrificing love for us. We will have the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” Phil 4:7
May we be quick to recognize God’s blessings each day. May His praise continually be upon our lips. May we our heart swell with love for our Dear Saviour Who gave Himself for us that we might be saved.
Rose
Misplaced Love