Leviticus is a difficult book. It’s hard to read and difficult to apply. The heart of the message, though, is found in Leviticus 19:2, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.“
We find the story of Nadab and Abihu in chapter 10. The warning that follows their deaths reminds us of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:6, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” What can we learn from these men and their bad example?
The more I worked on this message the more something just didn’t feel right. Our normal schedule for worship on Sundays is music, sermon, communion, offering, prayer. This sermon was about the need to approach God correctly in worship. Why on earth would I preach that after our time of worship? I decided I really needed to switch things up and make the sermon the first thing we did.
What amazed me, though, was the songs that had been picked out for the day. I have two wonderful musicians who play for us and pick out the songs for worship in advance–sometimes months in advance. I do my best to give them an idea of what I’ll be preaching, but it’s little more than a theme or a rough idea of what portion of the Bible I’ll be in.
They had no idea I would be talking about approaching God in worship–that he is a consuming fire. Yet the songs they picked out were absolutely perfect. Strange how that works, huh?
We had an incredible morning. Everything flowed beautifully and we had a good crowd. After worship I was approached by two women who want to move their membership with us. It’s a very validating thing when people want to be known as a part of what you’re doing.
