Many
people think that God is harsh, mean and demanding. As evidence of this, they
point to incidences
where people did not follow the exact letter of the law and God
punished them
on the spot. While those
stories do exist,
let me tell you a different story.
For
years, God’s people had neglected him.
Then, in 715 BC, a new king, a 25-year-old named Hezekiah,
came to the
throne. He re-opened the
temple and invited
everyone to Jerusalem to celebrate the great feast called
“Passover”. There were a
few problems though.
First,
they had waited too long. Passover
was
to be held on the fourteenth day of the first month of the year. That date was too close, so
they decided that
they would celebrate on the fourteenth day of the second month
instead (2
Chronicles 30:2).
Second,
God’s instructions clearly stated that the people must offer their
own
sacrifice. Unfortunately,
the people had
not performed the proper cleansing rituals leading up to the
feast. Therefore, the
Levites had to kill the
Passover lambs for them (verse 17).
Lastly,
the same uncleanliness that kept them from offering the sacrifice
should have
disqualified them from eating it.
However,
Hezekiah told them to eat it anyway (verse 18).
To
recap, they celebrated at the wrong time, the sacrifice was
offered incorrectly
and they ate the meal even though they should be disqualified. You would expect God to be
mad, right?
No! In fact, scripture says that,
“God heard… and
healed his people” (verse 20). What
happened to the mean God who hates anything done incorrectly?
Well,
God
is not mean. He is good! God will punish those who are
rebellious, but
that was not the case here. In
fact, their
hearts were set on seeking God (verse 19).
They did not do everything perfectly, but God has always
been more
concerned about a proper heart than proper actions.
We
ought to listen to God and do what he says.
Sloppiness is never good. But,
do
not let the fact that you will not get everything right the first
time keep you
from doing the good thing you know that you should do. God will celebrate your
faltering, incorrect,
stumbling steps if they are leading you closer to him.
“Draw
near to God and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
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