They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it. Ezekiel 44:13-14 – Oh what beauty is displayed to us in these two verses! In our chapter we continue to see Ezekiel in a vision about the future temple of the Lord. Eventually the Lord Himself begins to instruct Ezekiel on who was allowed to serve in the temple, for Israel had deeply messed this up. The Lord said the Levities, who went astray to worship idols, were allowed to return back to serve in the Temple if there was repentance in their life. No, they wouldn’t be able to do some of the more glamourous tasks around the temple, but they were welcomed back by the Lord to do His temple work, work that normal Jewish people weren’t allowed to do. See how wonderful this is, that the Lord in His mercy and grace allowed someone who went astray to return and serve Him once more. Then dwell on the fact that this was pre-new covenant with Jesus, so how much more welcomed are sinners now who repent to serve the Lord! Maybe today you fall into a category that the enemy loves to keep people in, the category of believing I’ve made too many mistakes in my past that the Lord won’t want to use me for His purposes. If that’s you, read and reread these verses and see the heart of the Lord is not to banish you from His work, but He is welcoming in the repentant heart into His service. No matter your past, if you turn to Jesus for forgiveness, the Lord will welcome you and use you for His glory. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3595
Question To Ponder: Why might someone believe they can’t be used by the Lord for His work?
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