Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Striving to Be Godly

Today's Reading:
  • Leviticus 9:7 - 10:20
  • Proverbs 10:6 - 7
Read Bible Passages Online

Leviticus 9:7 - 10:20
I was reading through more descriptions of how various animals were sacrificed and offered to the Lord.  Each example of this remarked how the person (usually Moses, but sometimes Aaron or one of his sons) performed the steps just as the Lord commanded. 

Then, out of nowhere, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu created a fire that was not how the Lord commanded them to, and they immediately burned up and died before the Lord (10:1 - 2).  I have to wonder what exactly they did wrong.  Obviously whatever it was, it was significant.  I searched through my study bible for more insight and there wasn't much to be offered.  It suggests that perhaps the source of the fire was a pagan source, and at another point it suggests that perhaps the two priests were drunk due to the warnings in 10:8.

We can speculate all we want to but in the end we just won't know what happened there.  It was bizarre for this to intercept what I figured would be an entire reading consisting solely of descriptions of sacrifice rituals.  It just goes to show how strangely engaging the bible is to read.  Just when you think you might start to get bored, you get hit with something new.  Perhaps it's a tragedy, or an instance of God's wrath, or some sudden insight that pulls back the blinders from your eyes.  It certainly keeps me on my toes!

Proverbs 10:6 - 7
Here we are given more reasons to strive to be godly.  We are told that those who are godly are showered with blessings and that people have pleasant memories of the godly.  As a contrast, those who are wicked have violent intentions and their name rots away after they are gone.

I certainly want to be remembered fondly and showered with blessings.  The other alternative doesn't sound like it's anything worth aspiring towards, does it?

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