“From thirty years old and upward, even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation” (Numbers 4:3).
TEXT — Numbers 4:1-3
Message
Charles Spurgeon got saved on January 6, 1850, and about a month later (February 1, 1850), he was quoted in the Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching Preachers to have written the following prayer of consecration: “O great and unsearchable God, who knowest my heart and triest all my ways; with a humble dependence upon the support of Thy Holy Spirit, I yield up myself to Thee; as Thy own reasonable sacrifice, I return to Thee Thine own. I would be forever, unreservedly, perpetually Thine; whilst I am on earth, I would serve Thee; and may I enjoy Thee and praise Thee forever! Amen.” What a commitment worthy of utmost emulation!
As soon as we enter into the kingdom of God through repenting of our sins and receiving salvation offered by our Lord Jesus Christ, we become eligible to serve in the Kingdom just like the Kohathites in our text today. There is no time to waste. God’s work requires haste and diligent speed. Too many souls are rushing into an endless eternal damnation that no believer should hesitate to arise and reach out to them. During His earthly ministry, Jesus was concerned that “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37). No wonder He immediately sent the 12 disciples (and later the 70) on an urgent missionary journey. While many of them may be thinking they were not capable or ready for it, God needed the little they had. He will readily use any believer who is available for His service.
The Kohathites are one of the four major divisions of the Levites. The three other divisions were the Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Aaronites. God chose these Levites to take care of the Tabernacle, a section that is critical to the presence and worship of God for all Israelites. Every believer is special in the hands of God. We are chosen in this generation to glorify and serve Him in truth and in spirit. No believer must excuse Himself from serving God. No excuse is good enough for a believer to ignore God’s service.
Through our text today, we glimpse the picture of the engagement of mature Kohathites into the service of God in the wilderness. It has an implication for our day regarding who is qualified to serve in the church. The Kohathites admitted into the number were those between 30 and 50 years old. These were able-bodied, willing, and ready men. Similarly, only those who are able by way of being saved, sanctified, Spirit-filled, and available can be used as effective vessels in God’s service today.
Thought for the day
You cannot profess to be serving the Lord without definite acts of service.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
