Staying Well Centered

According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, each according to his service and according to his task; thus they were numbered by him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

--Numbers 4:49  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on March 8, 2013 of Psalm 48; Acts 15:22-35; Numbers 4:29-5.

A few years into their wilderness journey, God started creating a little order from the mass of humanity in the desert.  He started by having Moses and Aaron conduct a census of all males of an age to go to war, to be counted by the houses of their forefathers, the sons of Jacob.  Only the sons of the house of Levi were not included in the count, with the two sons of Joseph being used to keep the twelve houses.  Each house was then assigned a position to set up camp around the tabernacle when the nation was at rest, with three houses to each compass direction of east, south, west, and north.  The children of the house of Levi were set aside and dedicated to God and to His service.  The Levite males from thirty to fifty years of age were counted in a second census, and assigned very specific tasks for tending to the tabernacle and carrying it piece by piece when the camp moved.  All of the children of Israel were assigned their position to camp around the tabernacle, with the children of Levi being encamped closest to it, including Moses and Aaron as the very closest.

Note that the tabernacle, where God would dwell among them while encamped and at rest, served as the very center of their mobile nation.  So it should be for us today.  Jesus should be at the very center of our lives, no matter how mobile and busy we may be.  Just like the camp of the children of Israel in the desert, everything should spread outward from Christ our Lord.  Service to Him and His church should come first, before any other consideration.  Ball games, fishing trips, shopping expeditions, or auto races should never  be given higher priority than spending time with our Lord.  May we always place Him at the center of our lives.  Amen.

Dearest Jesus, You are always faithful to us even when we are not faithful to You, even when we fail to put You first.  Please forgive us when we let the busyness of our day to day lives put serving you at the bottom of our to-do list.  In Your holy name, sweet Jesus, we pray.   Amen.