Oh, how I love God’s Word. It is new every morning. And it is so practical and relating to life. This morning I read about the different functions of the priests and Levites in 1 Chronicles chapter 9. We often think of the priests in the functions of praying and blessing God’s people. But the Bible talks about their mundane tasks which they had to do from day to day.
First of all, in v. 23 it gives the description: “Very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.” Yes, God gave them WORK to do. And they were to SERVE. They weren’t sitting around praying all day.
Dear mother, your home is also a house of God. And God gives you work to do in your home. You are in the perfect will of God as you serve in your home.
Verses 19 – 26 tell us about the work of the gatekeepers. You are also a gatekeeper of your home as you protect and guard it from evil and in the inroads of the enemy.
Verses 28 - 32 tells us about more practical tasks God gave to His priests and Levites. Some were in charge of the vessels and instruments of the sanctuary which they had to count when they were brought out and count when they were brought in.
Others were in charge of the fine flour, the wine, the oil, and all the spices. Others were in charge of mixing the spices. Mattithiah was appointed to take charge of baking the bread for the offerings.
Other priests were in charge of making the showbread to put upon the Table of Shewbread each week. Baking bread? Yes, God looked upon it as a priestly duty! What attitude do you have to baking bread in your home?
And what do you do when you’ve baked bread? You have to wash the pans and all the utensils you used. These priests did a lot of washing dishes too!
But there’s more yet. God’s Word states that all these people were ordained “IN THEIR SET OFFICE ” (verses 22, 26, and 31). The word “office” in the Hebrew means “faithfulness, firmness, fidelity, stability, truth.” It is translated “faithfulness” 26 times in the King James Version.
These men were to be faithful to their tasks, even though many of these tasks were menial.
Dear lovely mother, you have also been ordained to a “set office” by God. As you manage your home—preparing meals, baking, washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning floors and toilets, and caring for your precious children, God sees each task as a priestly duty. You are doing these things in His presence. He sees these duties as powerful and anointed as a minister preaching his sermon on Sunday. Please, do not ever see them as insignificant. Everything you do in the presence of God is sacred and therefore powerful.
Embrace every little practical task in your home today. Rejoice in it. Be faithful to it.
Oh yes, one more thing to encourage you. This attribute of faithfulness God wants us to have toward our homely duties is the very same word that is used 20 times to describe God’s faithfulness! When you are faithful, with joy, to your daily tasks, you reveal the character of God! Wow! That is powerful.
Have a wonderful day,
Nancy Campbell