Monday, February 23, 2026

          Numbers is a book of the Bible that people read infrequently.  You might read it when you are on a mission to read through the Bible in a year.  Or you might read it when you are cross referencing other biblical passages.  Not many people see Numbers as their “go-to” book in the Bible.  But there is a real treat for us to see in Numbers 3.  This chapter concerns the Levites—those men in Israel chosen by God to serve as priests to represent the people to God and to represent God to the people.  The Levites were the priestly tribe and received no allocation of land like the other tribes.  As we read Numbers 3, there is an interesting and compelling repetition of a critical phrase.  We need to pay attention to this phrase because it speaks to us as clearly as it spoke to ancient Israel.  The phrase is “they were responsible for” (see Numbers 3:25, 28, 31, 38).  God had entrusted certain responsibilities to certain people for the good of the nation as a whole.  Every Levite had a role to play for the nation’s good and God’s glory.
            The lesson for us today is this—what has the Lord entrusted to you?  What responsibilities has God entrusted to you?  God may have entrusted some areas of service and ministry to you.  He may have called you to teach, to sing, to care for children, to pray, to give or to do the things others tend to overlook or neglect.  These different things are not to be forgotten or overlooked.  They are by no means inconsequential if the Lord has entrusted them to us.  Later in the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compared the Church to the human body.  He wrote, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ” (12:12).  The body, yours and mine, is made up of many different parts—including parts that we cannot see.  These parts each do the job that God assigned to them in His divine design and creation.  No one part has to do the full job of the human body.
            Likewise, the work of Christ gets done when the whole church or family of God does what God has asked it to do.  Everyone serves as he or she has been gifted and equipped. As Paul wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:27-28). As the Levites did in Numbers, the work of Christ is accomplished when everyone knows and carries the responsibilities that God has placed upon them.
            Take inventory of how you serve the Lord today.  The average Christian has basically three open doors for serving.  First, we can serve in the local church.  Most believers are members of churches where the lion’s share of God’s work is carried out.  To borrow a football analogy, the local church is the offensive line of the gospel—pushing and moving forward so God’s Word, the gospel and the good news of forgiveness can advance. Second, we can serve through the local church.  Most churches have ministries beyond themselves where people can mobilize and activate to serve the state, national or global cause of Christ.  Churches are often portals or pathways for people to serve in broader ways.  Think of a mission trip or disaster relief work in areas hit hard by hurricanes, storms and tragedies (natural or manmade).  Third, the average Christian can serve beyond the church.  Think of volunteering at a school, coaching and shaping a youth sports team or supporting a chronically sick neighbor.  These things are done outside the church and not necessarily through the sponsorship of a church.  But these opportunities are occasions to be the light of Christ in an often dark and bleak world.
            Where has God made you responsible?  What has God placed in your life?  What has God given you that can be used for Him and His glory?  Take some time each day to look at your life and where you can go to serve the Lord.  Be faithful with the occasions that God has given you to serve Him.  The Lord reminds us that if we are faithful in the small and simple ways then we are often entrusted with greater opportunities (Luke 16:10).  Have a great Monday and remember what the Lord has given you to do!