Readings for today: Numbers 3-5
As a young pastor just out of seminary, I struggled with my “call.” I am not sure what I expected. A voice from heaven? A burning bush? A pillar of fire? I had multiple opportunities to consider and didn’t quite know how to make a decision. So I asked an older, wiser pastor for his thoughts. He challenged me to stop overthinking things and instead simply focus on the “assignment” the Lord had given me. I was called to be a pastor. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. I was called to serve God’s people and that could happen in a variety of different contexts. Over the years, I’ve served in large churches and small churches. I’ve taught in seminaries and trained church planters overseas. I’ve been offered opportunities to serve my denomination in several different leadership roles. I’ve loved all of them but never in a million years could I have planned them out.
I thought about those words as I read about the assignments given to the different Levitical clans. The Levites were set apart by God to serve God. Unlike the other tribes, they were given no inheritance because their inheritance was the Lord. He had redeemed them as His own. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Look, I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me, because all the firstborn are mine. When I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am the Lord.” (Numbers 3:11-13 NET) Furthermore, the sons of Levi and their descendants were also set apart for specific tasks. The Kohathites were charged to carry the most holy objects from the Tabernacle. The Gershonites were to carry the curtains and the tent. The Merarites were to basically carry the rest of the equipment. Each of these sons and their descendants would shoulder this burden into perpetuity. This was their divine call. This was God’s assignment for them.
Everyone is born with a divine assignment. I know this may be hard to grasp or understand. After all, we live in a culture where we get to choose our profession. Choose, to some extent, our place in society. Choose where we will live and who we will live among. Most of humanity throughout history has not had the freedom to make such choices. And with such freedom comes an even greater temptation. We are tempted to believe we are the captains of our fate, the masters of our destiny. We are tempted to believe we are in control of our lives. We are tempted to believe we somehow are free from any “assignment” others might place on us. However, this is a lie. God has a plan for each of our lives. His divine plan includes our assignment in His Kingdom. It’s a space only we can occupy because each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made and, as such, have a unique contribution to make. What is your assignment? Have you asked God to show you His plan for your life in this particular season?
Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays