Heart or Hands?
“Now many people were gathered at Jerusalen to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly. And they arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and cast them into the brook Kidron. Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month.
“And the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves and consecrated themselves, and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. And they stood at their stations after their custom according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites.
“For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, the Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord.
“For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephriam and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘May the good Lord pardon everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.’
“So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. And the sons of Israel present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. Then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.” II Chronicles 30:13-22
It is easy to major on the minors. In this case, the Levites chosen by God to serve in the Temple had been kept from their duties by Ahaz’s wickedness (II Chronicles 28:22-25).
When Hezakiah became king, he reopened the temple for worship once again and invited everyone who could attend the Passover to Jerusalem. He excused those who did not keep every part of the ritual as set out because he knew that giving thanks, without or with ritual was the point. Jesus reminded us of the same in Luke 11:37-44.
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Take care with love, especially His, from Darlene, who still prays for you each day.
PS: You can also find the devotions on line/ on your mobile phone here: www.weakdaydevotion.com .
NOTES: I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They reported supernatural events that took place before, of specific prophecies; and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.
The Five Solas: Individuals are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone to the glory of God alone!
Find my full statement of faith: https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com (where you will also find a series of Bible studies). For the books, go to Amazon books. For prayer requests/ updates, email: darlenerichard@gmail.com