Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 18:5-9

David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well. As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. As they danced, the women sang, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.’ Saul was furious and resented this song. ‘They credited tens of thousands to David,’ he complained, ‘but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?’ So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When you are a professional “God-botherer,” as I am sometimes called, you never know when God is going to bother back with a message that needs to be shared. Sometimes it’s just for one person. Sometimes it’s for a whole community. Sometimes it’s for a specific group in a community. This one fits in that last category. Still, though, give this one a read because there just might be something in this you need to hear too. There is a group of individuals in my community who have been through the wringer lately. This post is just a reminder to them that what they do matters. I won’t pull back the curtain on who they are, but when they read this, I suspect they’ll know. Let’s talk about David and work that nobody appreciates.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 29:15-21

“Take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head. You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar. Cut the ram into pieces. Wash its entrails and legs, and place them with its head and its pieces on the altar. Then burn the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. You are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the ram’s head. Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on his sons’ right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar. Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. So he and his garments will be holy, as well as his sons and their garments.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Not many people experience the kind of dedication to something that allows for incredible things to happen. It takes a lot to reach that point. Whenever someone does reach this point, the results are pretty consistently extraordinary. How do you reach such a place of total dedication? It starts with a decision. At that point, there’s usually a ceremony of some sort. It could be formal. It could be very informal. But from there, the rest is just follow through. This next set of sacrifices we see are all about dedication. Let’s explore what’s happening here.

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