2 Chronicles 5:4-7 - When all the leaders of Israel arrived, the
Levites moved the Ark, along with the
special tent and all its sacred utensils. The Levitical priests
carried them all up to the Temple. King
Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed sheep and oxen before the
Ark in such numbers that no one could keep count! Then the priests carried the Ark of the LORD's
covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple -- the Most Holy Place -- and
placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
The temple was finished…the leaders were called…and the priests
picked up the poles on their shoulders and carried the Ark of God to its new
home. Placed beneath the protective
wings of its guardian angel…the tablets containing God’s rules for living
rested in the Holy of Holies….in the most holy presence of God.
The great procession took place during the annual Festival
of Tabernacles….and renewed both the peoples commitment to serve and love the
one true God…and the trust they had in his ability to protect and guide them. God
was so pleased with the incalculable sacrifices they offered that day…he
allowed the cloud of his Holy presence to fill the temple.
It was a grand praise service where the priests….musicians….choirs….hundreds
of instruments …and all the people who could crowd into the public courtyards….filled
the air with praises to Yahweh. They
celebrated this day that he had provided for them a new permanent home…remembering
where he had brought them from…and all that he had done for them along the
journey.
It reminds me this morning to stop more often and offer my
own thanks for the many things God has done for me. I sure can’t remember a time when I offered
up so many praises that they couldn’t be counted. I developed the routine of
worshiping God at the regular times our church has services…and thank him
quietly in a daily time of prayer and Bible study…but I sure don’t have an
annual Festival of Praise and Thanks.
What we need is a mass revival…that will ignite the hearts
and lives of the people of God like never before. God will be so pleased with the gathering of
his people shouting praises to his name that his Holy Spirit will descend on
the celebration and heal the physically sick…mend the hearts of the broken
hearted…and give new hope and courage to the entire world through all that take
part. God’s love would spread like a
wildfire…to everyone that came near to those that received power from the
gathering.
Father…I thank you for the Celebration you had Ezra record
for us in the Bible….and the reminder it gives me to stop and give you praise
more often. Help me rededicate in this
moment… my commitment to you …and trust you completely for the courage and
strength to do the work you have called me to do. You have called me to another year in the
public classroom of SLMS…and today I will meet the souls of the children you
have picked especially for me to work with.
My mission call for this moment is to touch the lives of these children
you have placed in my care…and help them see the love of your son that can
change their lives forever. Give me the discernment and wisdom I need to be all
that you have called me to be it the lives of each child you have sent me. Amen.
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