Hi, again,
I can't believe I have read the Bible through so many times, and never saw some of the things I am seeing in the first 5 books. As I said on Monday, I normally go through it quickly, but this time so many things stuck out to me. In our reading today, especially in Numbers 7, I would have said to myself, "All these things these individuals are presenting to the Lord are the same, so I'll just read the first couple of them and then read the names and tribes from which each one came." Well, this time, I began to wonder just WHY God chose to list each man, his tribe, and every single thing he brought to the Lord. I believe God wanted to show EQUAL honor from the smallest tribe to the largest. He started with Judah, which was the largest, but He mentions each one's name and tribe and gave each one a separate day to bring his equal offerings. Isn't that just like the Lord - that He doesn't play favorites. If a person has a very noticeable gifting, like miracles of healing, etc. God doesn't consider him or her any differently than He does the one who has a gift of helps, say. He simply says, "You are just as important to me, so I give you a whole day, I say your name, I say what tribe you're from and I list every single thing you bring, even though it's just the same as everyone else's gift. What a great and awesome God we serve. He looks at our heart, (whether we show up on our day - smiles) and sees that we are doing just exactly what He has called us to do, whether great or small, noticeable or hidden. It's before Him we come, humbly, and do what He has called us to do. Wow! What an awesome God we are privileged to serve. Let's serve Him today with all our hearts!