Inside Out Living

God’s grace is a wonderful and beautiful gift. Deuteronomy 9:4-6 is a picture for us of God’s gracious gift. The Promised Land for Israel was God’s blessed gift to His chosen people. And it is for us a foreshadowing of our future in Heaven. Israel in the Promised Land was God’s chosen people living in a ‘perfect’ land, with God Himself dwelling among them in the tabernacle.

What we notice in Deuteronomy 9:4-6 is that God didn’t place Israel in this land because they earned it, but rather God was carrying out His promise to His chosen people.

God’s grace works in the same way for us. We have not earned the right to receive God’s grace. It is God’s choice to extend grace to those who come to Him in faith.
We experience a new beginning when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. It is a life that is begun through God’s grace, it is lived in God’s grace and it is culminated by God’s grace. You may acknowledge that you received new life through God’s grace, but are you living by God’s grace, or are you now trying to earn His grace through works and following manmade rules?

As I reflect on the responsibilities given to the Levites I am rather overwhelmed. Could you imagine being responsible for taking care of the one place where the true God could be worshipped? Wow! Then I think about the fact that they didn’t aspire to this, but that the Lord chose them and they were born into it. Their whole purpose in life was the proper care and operation of the tabernacle.

Now this is not all that different than for us today. Like the Levites, we have been chosen by God and then given a purpose in life. We do not inherit this based on our genealogy, but we are born into it, for every believer is born of the Spirit (John 3:5). The Levites were instructed as to what their purpose was – they didn’t get to choose. In the same way, God directs and gives each believer significance and purpose. This is what I mean by sacrificing our freedom. As chosen people, we are not free to declare the purpose for our life. Our purpose, one that will bring real meaning and significance, comes from above.

Over the course of twelve days the twelve tribes of Israel gave their gifts of dedication for the tabernacle. You probably noticed that all twelve gifts were identical. To me this is a remarkable thing. Bible Commentator Matthew Henry notes that this points to the “equal share” that each tribe had in the tabernacle and altar. I am sure that it was tempting to those tribes with greater resources to out-give the other tribes. And yet none of them did.

Under the Old Covenant, all people came to God through the system of sacrifices. Today, under the New Covenant, all people come to God through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

The tribes gave their dedication offerings in recognition of the importance of the tabernacle. So what is an appropriate offering for us to give in recognition of Jesus? Romans 12:1-2 says that we are to give our whole life as a “living and holy sacrifice.” Now that is an offering that truly shows we all have equal share in the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation.

I recently returned from a retreat with some middle school boys. While at this retreat, I discovered that they can easily get lost in the details of a story and totally miss the point. I hope that isn’t the case for you as you read this passage today. I say that because, in the middle of all those details, is a simple phrase “just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” All of those details were important because they were commanded by God. It is not as though the craftsmen could have changed their minds and disregarded the instructions from God. They followed every single detail God had given them.

God gave them great detail on the tabernacle and he gives us detail on how to live as well. So, are you willing to live life God’s way? Or are you going to ignore God’s instructions on how to live? The craftsmen of Israel were willing to follow God’s instruction and build His way. If you will do the same, your life will be one of beauty just like the tabernacle was.

The devotionals for this week are centered on the theme of submission. Each one will cause you to think about a different element of our need to submit to God's will and authority in our life.

I have yet to meet a church that has more money and resources than it can put to use. However, that is exactly what we see take place today. God’s people give above and beyond what is needed to build the tabernacle.

Now, my intent with today’s devotional is not to go off on the importance of giving, but I do want to note something interesting in Ex. 35:20-22. What most catches my attention isn’t what they brought or even how much they brought, but rather how they brought it. Everyone whose hearts were willing brought what they could. I think it is safe to say that not every Israelite gave to the building of the tabernacle, rather only those whose “hearts were stirred and desired to do so” gave their offerings.

This is how it is to work in our own lives. God doesn’t want us to give out of compulsion or obligation. If that is why you give then you should keep your money. Look at Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. They gave out of a wrong motive and were dishonest in their giving. May you give as the Israelites gave, with willing hearts.