Barriers to God

Leviticus 8-9, Matthew 23

Lev 9:22 “Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.”

Mat 23:13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Mat 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

I was asking myself as I read the New Testament, why is it that almost everyone could recognise Jesus except the priests, the anointed ones of God? It is so ironical.

In Leviticus 8-9, we read that the priests were given a high place, they were set apart by God so they could help be a bridge between man and God. They represented God, they represented man. They were supposed to help God communicate with His people and the people with God. They should know who is God.

Along the way, the priests lost their way. The rules and laws set by God for them to perform for the people were to bring the people close to God – for justice, for mercy and faithfulness. Instead, the priests made it hard for most ordinary people to go to God- it became something that only the rich could practice. It became about status, power, money, learnedness, etc. Getting to God became something exclusive, only for the privileged few. The priests were proud of this as it puts them in high standing. Instead of being bridges, the priests became barriers to God for the people.

So once again, God has to come down to reach out to the people - the ordinary ones, the ‘last’ ones. This time, He really made sure all have direct access to know and be close to Him if they choose to.

I wonder what's the situation today? Are we bridges or barriers?

Rules and laws were always meant for good. They were meant for protection. It’s the people that fall short. Thank God He never.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your grace. Please help make us bridges for the people to come to you, in Jesus name, amen.

Who cares for God?

Ex 29:44-46 “So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.”

Ex 32:1 “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."”

God took Moses away a long time – 40 days and nights, to tell Moses what are the rules and regulations for the Israelites and also giving very detailed instructions on building the tablenacle and all so that God can dwell with amongst the people. So that He can be their God and they can be His people.

Whilst Moses was away, the people cannot wait and built and worshipped other gods. I wonder how God feel. Does anyone care how He feels? Do we care for God?

All of us want someone to care for us, love us, and appreciate us. We want justice, healing, provision, significance. When we approach God, we expect Him to listen and help us, care for us, love us. But do we care about God?

Love is both ways.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to care and love you as you have cared and loved me, in Jesus name, amen.

Big Heart

Matthew 20:1-16 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'”

From the start when Jesus first taught, His thinking has always been unconventional, challenging our way of seeing things. All of us know when we work, we should be paid our due wages. Why should those who do not perform get the same pay or even be paid first? We reward those who do well. It’s all based on performance, we have to earn it.

But God’s heart has always been with the marginalised - the last in the society, those whom nobody wants. Perhaps they are old, weak, sick, handicapped, of lower intelligence, the prostitutes, the scums, the aliens, the poor, the humble. In the parable, somehow, no one would want to hire them and they were loitering, maybe waiting for a job to feed their family.

He said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3). "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Mat 20:16).

What a big heart, one full of grace and compassion. Once when I watched an episode of American Idol’s charity programme, a man said “the one who stands tallest is the one who stoop low to help others”

Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank you for your big heart, one full of grace and compassion. May we remember the poor around us, in Jesus name, amen.