Familiar shadows

2 Corinthians 5:20 reads, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

The priesthood of Aaron is usually only painted in contrast to the greater priesthood of Jesus, but it too was a blessing during its utilization. Imagine a young child separated from their parent at the grocery store. As panic mounts, the child might turn a corner to see the familiar shadow of their parent, and finally begin to calm down. But how much more peace, how much more joy, when upon turning the corner, they see the real life parent that cast the shadow in the first place. This is the movement from the priesthood of Aaron, a shadow of the joy to come, to Jesus, that joy fulfilled.

In Aaron’s ministry, lost children have been oriented towards the reality to come, and given hope to the greater experience of hope that is found in Jesus. Like Aaron, we have the opportunity to participate in Jesus’ work of reconciliation to the world around us. As the family of God, we collectively called to demonstrate God's perfect love to one another and the world around us.

Ask yourself today, where is God calling you to cast a familiar shadow?


2 Corinthians 5:20

Irrevocable call

Romans 11:29 tells us, “...the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” In context Paul is referring to the Jewish people, and God’s love for them, but the implications of this passage include us as well. As a member of the body of Christ, God has lavishly gifted you, and decisively called you. Knit into your being are specific gifts that bless the body of Christ and honor God.

Whether its business savvy, a deep sense of empathy, a green thumb, or a parent’s heart, God has given you a particular gift and calling. What we do with these irrevocable gifts and callings remain up to us. God is a God of relentless invitation, and deep patience. We can ignore our gifts, downplay them, disguise them, and try to refuse them, or even run off to Nineveh instead of embracing them. They remain irrevocably and lovingly, etched into our deepest self.

Know that delays in obeying God’s call do not mean you missed your calling. Nothing is wasted in God’s economy, and any delays in obedience are miraculously redeemed. The same gifts and callings that were written into you before you drew your first breath remain a part of you today.

What gifts has God entrusted you with? Where have you been called to exercise them?


Romans 11:29

The Word of God is sharp

God uses His people, creation, his Holy Spirit, and uncountable other means to pursue us, but the word of God can be one of the most persistent means of His presence in our lives.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

The word of God is a comfort, an instruction, and a testament to God’s great love for us, but it is also unapologetic truth. When we dare to expose ourselves to it God’s word, when we honestly engage with it as sacred scripture, it highlights hypocrisy, it convicts, and it separates our rationalizations from reality. God uses scripture to invite us into deeper relationship with him.

Martin Luther once said, "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me." It is a dangerous and wonderful thing to read the word of God as scripture.

Today reflect on the reality that God’s word is living and active. How has it affected you?


Hebrews 4:12,13

Shipbuilding and the Kingdom

A.J. Cronin once wrote of shipbuilding, “One will weave the canvas; another will fell a tree by the light of his ax. Yet another will forge nails, and there will be others who observe the stars to learn how to navigate. And yet all will be as one. Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky. It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a community of love.”

 The kingdom of God shares a good deal in common with this vision of building a ship. We are first bound together by a shared love and in a common purpose through Christ. It’s then God’s pleasure to fill us with a diversity of abilities, and a mosaic of compatible skills, all empowered by Jesus’ perfect love, and set about the Father’s business.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” God has personally equipped you with a brilliant tapestry of talents, passions, and proclivities.

God has placed you in this time, and in this place, to join with the people of God, for the work of the gospel. Whether you chart the course, sew the sail, forge the nails, or sweep the deck, we are a community set about a common purpose.

What is your unique contribution to God’s kingdom?


Ephesians 2:10

Let it shine

Matthew 23:27 Reads, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” In a dark room, a single match and a spotlight work towards the same task; bringing light to the darkness.

It can be difficult to feel like our contribution is meaningful when we compare instead of cooperate with others. Whether we’ve been entrusted with a meteoric fire, or a small steady flame, we are responsible to steward well what God has given us.

The minister Henry Van Dyke wrote, "Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."

What song is God asking you to sing today? Where can you shine your light, large or small?


Matthew 5:16

Show up when God calls

Aaron was the forefather of the intercessors that served the people of God from the time they were in Egypt, to the day Jesus’ full and complete priesthood was established. What were Aaron’s qualifications? He obeyed when God called.

In Exodus 4, we see Moses explaining to God why God’s plan won’t work. He thinks that God’s asking too much of him. He says that God must not realize that Moses just isn't a talker, or that the people are too hard headed to receive the message. Moses says to God, “Here’s how we need to change your plan.” It’s often our first response to react, adjust, or try to tailor the world to our desires. Moses fills Exodus 4 with words that oppose what God has said, where he should rightly have sat and listened.

We don’t know if Aaron said anything at all in response to God’s call, but we do know that he listened and obeyed. Exodus 4:27 tells us that God called, “…so he went.” Where have you substituted your plan for God's plan?

Where in your life can you respond to God's invitation?


Exodus 4:27

Guard against idols

1 John 5:21 says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” This is John’s last word to the church, his take-home point, and the summation of his message. You can imagine his voice, rich with years and full of love at this point, as he addresses his little children. “If you remember anything I’m saying, remember this last bit, its important: Guard yourself against idols.”

The Greek here is better rendered “guard” than “keep”, and it gives us an insight into the relationship we have with idolatry. We are constantly under the temptation to worship created things. We find ourselves even more vulnerable when we believe that idolatry only happens in the Old Testament. We worship idols when we replace the creator God with a created “god.”

Many good gifts from God can become idols over time. The career that was an answer to prayer may become the “god” of provision. The spouse prayed for since childhood may become the “god” of love, even the flag of the homeland can become the “god” of protection. All of these good things that we try to make “god” things will fail us, and what we once revered we will revile. Prayerfully considering what good things we have allowed to become “god” things is no small task. We fight to protect our idols, worried that the needs we perceive them as fulfilling will go unmet.

John’s warning to us is as powerful today as it was when written, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”

Ask God to show you places where you’ve made good things “god” things.


1 John 5:21

Alleluia from head to foot

Exodus 15:20 and 21 describes the response of Miriam after the Israelites crossed the red sea and were delivered from the armies of Pharaoh. It reads, “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Picture Miriam with her back to the waters still churning behind her, throwing her head back to sing to God. Picture the people of God face to face with a miracle, delivered from a multi-generational oppression in Egypt. In the quiet that followed the waters crashing back into place, Miriam gives the only proper response; she worships.

Augustine once wrote, “A Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot.” In response to the magnificence of creation, to the redemption of our lives, to the hope that we have in Christ, to the future that he has secured, and for the promises he has given, we should rightly join Miriam in worship of God. Where has God delivered you?

What does it mean to be an Alleluia from head to foot where you are today?


Exodus 15:20,21

Service-oriented greatness

Servanthood is a reorientation of how we think about greatness. It’s a reorientation, because it takes us out of the spotlight. If you’ve ever been the best man, or the maid of honor in a wedding, you know that you’ve been entrusted with a set of important tasks. However, the one thing you should definitely do not do, is try to make the day about you. You don’t try take the spot of the groom at the altar, because the wedding isn’t about you. You don’t try to give the best vows, because they aren’t yours to give. You don’t cut in during the first dance, because it’s not about you. Becoming a servant is about serving the true groom, Jesus, and the true bride, the Church.

In Mark 9:35 Jesus has overheard his disciples trying to decide who’s the best, and takes a moment to reorient their understanding, “he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

It’s worth noting that nowhere in this redefinition does Jesus forbid the desire to be great, only the means by which we attain greatness. Jesus’ reorientation means that to be truly great, we make a practice of putting others before ourselves. We give up the best seat, the position of honor, the starring role. We draw others up, instead of forcing our way to the front. We emulate our God who eternally holds the highest position of honor, and still became like us.

Where have you lived into greatness that fights its way to the top? Where have you lived into a service oriented greatness?


Mark 9:35

Love in action

In his book Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis writes, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”

This can be a hard word for those of us who hold authenticity as our highest personal value. To never pretend, always speak our mind, and always give the unfiltered truth has become the pendulum response to inauthenticity. If you’ve suffered under the compulsion to “put on a good face”, or “fake it til you make it”, Lewis’ suggestion to “act as if you did” can feel repulsive.

Here’s the reality: We will often not feel love for one another, even when we ought to. We will be infuriated by our families. Our spouse will frustrate us. A boss will antagonize us seemingly on purpose. There will be people who are deeply enmeshed in our lives that are very unlovely towards us. The natural response is to reject those who we feel rejected by. This is the emotional equivalent of an eye for an eye.

In contrast, John 13:35 reads, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This does not say, “As long as people are kind to you, show love to them.” Instead, this verse says, “This is how you’re going to be different, love people even when they are unlovely, then they’ll know you’ve got Jesus.”

Who are you being called to love today, even if they don’t deserve it?


John 13:35

Holy expectancy

Micah 7:7 reads, “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

In his book Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster wrote, “A striking feature of worship in the Bible is that people gathered in what we could only call a ‘holy expectancy.’ They believed they would actually hear the Kol Yahweh, the voice of God.” The worship of the people of God is rightly characterized by an expectation of encounter. Our worship will rightly cause us to look to God, to wait on God, and to truly believe that God will hear us.

Entering into worship that is characterized by “holy expectancy” does not mean that we conjure God through our worship. Instead, we know that God has promised to hear us. We know that God sees us. We know that God loves us deeply, whether in seasons of perceived closeness and in perceived distance. We know that we can enter into worship with holy expectancy, because God has promised to never leave us or forsake us, because he draws near to the brokenhearted, and because he delights in us.

Today, draw near to God with the holy expectancy that God will hear you.


Micah 7:7