2 Chronicles 29:11 (NLT) My sons, do not neglect your duties any longer! The Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and present offerings to him.”

One of the things that unfortunately kept occurring among God's people is that they would inevitably drift away from serving the Lord. It happened time after time. When Judah would have the benefit of a king who did seek after God, the people would reconsecrate themselves to the Lord but it would only last as long as that leader was alive or until he turned away from God himself.

King Hezekiah was the son of King Ahaz and he followed after his father to the throne of Judah. King Ahaz had closed the Temple and served the gods of the Assyrians who had attacked Judah. He figured that the gods who helped the Assyrians might help him. How sadly mistaken he was! If he only had done a little research into the history of Judah, he would have found that the reign of his own father was a powerful one simply because he lived in obedience to God. King Ahaz's reign was a complete and utter failure. But his son, Hezekiah was different and took up the ways of his grandfather instead of following his father's example. He began by reopening the Temple and began repairs. Then he began to encourage the Levites to take up their duties in the Temple, which they had neglected. He reminded them that they were a chosen group of people, singled out by God Himself to minister before Him and to offer offerings on their behalf and on behalf of the people. The Levites heeded the call and returned to their assigned duties, serving the Lord as God had ordained for them to do.

Today, we too, are called to minister before the Lord. Although we are not Levites and we are not priests in the lineage of Aaron, we are priests by virtue of what Jesus did on the Cross. He died so that we could be purified from our sins and wear His righteousness. Because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, we no longer need a representative to go before the Lord on our behalf. We can go into God's presence ourselves because the veil that separated God's presence from everyone except the high priest once a year was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the way to God the Father is now open to all who follow Jesus. Each one of us are now priests (1 Peter 2:9), and we have the duty and the privilege of coming into God's presence to minister before Him and to offer up our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. We, like the Levites and all of the people of Israel, also have the problem that they had in that we have a tendency to drift away from God. But let's be encouraged by King Hezekiah's call to the Levites to not neglect our love and service to the Lord. It is life to us and it is what keeps us strong and steady during these dark and uncertain times. Take up your positions saints of God. Get back to your posts as you do what you have been chosen by God to do. Grab a hold of all that the Lord has for you as you seek Him with all of your heart.

Pastor Joey Vazquez