“Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled.” Deuteronomy 21:5 NKJV
Immediately after the miraculous deliverance of the children of Israel from their long and terrible slavery in Egypt, God instituted for them a sacrificial system of worship and appointed Aaron as the high priest and his sons as the priests.
God also chose the tribe of Levi to minister to Him and help Aaron and his sons discharge their priestly duties (Num. 18:2, Deut. 10:8). The responsibility of the priests under the Old Covenant is two-fold: first, to minister to the LORD and second, to minister to the people.
Deuteronomy 21:5 – NKJV
5 “Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled.
This is the proper order for their service!
It is mandatory for the priests to first minister to the LORD before going out to bless the people of Israel in the name of the LORD. Ministering to God must always come before ministering to people. This is the proper order put in place by God for all His ministers.
Our Lord Jesus Christ also followed this divine order of service during His earthly ministry. The Lord Jesus highly esteemed and cherished His personal and deep communion with His heavenly Father above His ministering to men.
Jesus would often separate Himself from the people and even His close disciples to spend quality time alone with His heavenly Father before going out to teach and minister to the needy (John 7:53; 8:1-2).
The Lord Jesus also inculcated into His disciples the divine order for service. Jesus called them primarily to be with Him—to fellowship, learn from Him, and attend to Him. The Lord Jesus made His disciples realize that ministering to people is secondary (Mk. 3:13-15).
Therefore, in the early Church, it was common practice for the disciples to gather to minister to the LORD. In one of those services, Barnabas and Saul were called and sent to the Gentile nations by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-3).
Our Lord Jesus Christ and His early apostles diligently followed God’s order for service. Despite their busy daily schedules, they highly exalted, cherished, and guarded their time of communion with the LORD, leaving us an example or a model to follow (Mark. 6:46, Luke 6:12, Acts 6:1-4).
Sadly, we hardly have this kind of service in our churches today. Almost all our services and meetings are tailored or dedicated to ministering to the people and meeting our personal needs. Even when we set aside some services or meetings to praise God, it is still with an ulterior motive to provoke, manipulate, or motivate God to bless us or to arise and fight against our enemies.
When the Old Covenant priests followed God’s order of service (ministering first to God before ministering to the people of God), God attested to their ministry to the people with His awesome glory, resulting in the people surrendering to God and worshipping God with reverence.
In one of those instances, after Aaron had finished ministering to the LORD and came out to bless or minister to the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people (Lev. 9:22-24).
We shall not be able to truly minister to the LORD until we change our selfish mindset of seeking to move, compel, motivate, or provoke God through our worship or praises for God to bless us or fight our enemies for us.
We cannot worship God in spirit and truth if we always seek to use God for our profits. Like the Old Testament priests, believers today must always strive to minister to the LORD before seeking to minister to the people.
When you always set ministering to people ahead of ministering to the LORD, you will eventually become spiritually drained, exhausted, and impoverished. Only those who cultivate the habit of waiting upon or ministering to the LORD before ministering to the people will never be wearied or exhausted spiritually, emotionally, and physically (Isa. 40:3, Psa. 92:13-15).
Beloved, the sure way to remain spiritually fresh, flourishing, fruitful, impactful, relevant, and effective as God’s servant this New Year is to set ministering to God or relishing God’s presence as your highest priority this New Year.
Therefore, above anything else, cherish and guard your time of communion or fellowship with God in His Word and prayer jealously.
The Lord is calling you today as His priest to reset or reorder your priority in ministry or service. It is wisdom to esteem and pursue ministering to the LORD, fellowshipping with the LORD, relishing the LORD’s presence, and waiting upon the LORD above ministering to people and enjoying their presence.
Choose to follow God’s order for service this New Year!
Prayer:
My Dear Holy Spirit, teach and strengthen me daily to cherish and guard my time of personal communion jealously with my heavenly Father in this New Year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.