The days were hot, long, and many times exhausting. I’m talking about working on staff at camp. My wife and I worked as the camp nurse and worship arts coordinator. The work we did in those positions wasn’t stressful. Many times the work was rather enjoyable. However, it was the full-on dedication that was required of us from sun up to sun down that wore us out. As a relatively, newly married couple – just a year under our belt – we had the privilege to serve hundreds of youth and adults. When we rested, it was brief within a small room that sat adjacent to a single public/private restroom. There were times we thought What have we gotten ourselves into?
As much as we enjoyed the work and even more were excited to see the transformation in the lives of youth and families, we were equally excited for it to all to end. We actually looked forward to going back to school. Sure college life is busy, stressful, and yet still fun; as a married couple it’s quite different though. It’s not as crazy and a little more settled. It’s almost like you’re in a home away from home. It’s contentment. And when I thought about that, as sweet as it is, I was convicted to stay focused, that my work was not yet done here, at camp.
Have you ever been charged to take on such a role, to be needed for Kingdom’s purpose? I have always been involved with activities from the church and activities that helped the community, but this was different. I was charged to complete a work that would set a foundation for youth and parents to help them build a life devoted to Christ.
King Hezekiah, in 2 Chronicles 29, charged the Levites to consecrate themselves to purify the temple. Who uses the word consecrate? It means to solemnly dedicate or devote yourself to a special purpose. Their only duty was to purify and prepare the temple for His service once again. The prior king, Ahaz, had utterly lost touch with the Father and desecrated the temple by bringing in impure items. On top of this, he made sacrifices to the gods of other peoples in the hopes that those gods would save them when the nation was in distress. Hezekiah, on the other hand, knew this evil and made an oath under his leadership that this would not happen again, at least while under his rule. So he ordered the Levites to do this task. It took them eight days to reach the portico, or porch, of the Lord, and another eight days to complete the task. They knew, being the priestly tribe of Judah, that this service belonged to them
How much more should we devote ourselves to his work? It took the Levites a total of sixteen long, hard days to clean up the temple. Even though they were tired of all the work and frustrated that this had come to the temple, they were eager to be involved in restoring it to its proper glory, to be used again to bring his light to men, to set a foundation in the lives of the people, and to help others find renewed life aimed for his service and glory. But don’t think that this job is only for the clergy; in fact, if he loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, he has also made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve him (Revelation 1:5,6).
Consecrate yourselves to him. The work is still not done. We’re only halfway there and another eight days to go.
15 When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the LORD, as the king had ordered, following the word of the LORD.16 The priests went into the sanctuary of the LORD to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the LORD’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the LORD. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley. 17 They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. 19 We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the LORD’s altar.”
2 Chronicles 29:15-19
8 days!
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