Numbers 8: His People

"...and the Levites will be mine.... They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me."

That's God, talking about the Levites, in Numbers 8, verses 14 and 16 (NIV).

A lot of Numbers 8 involves God talking about how the Levites are His special people, and how they need to be set apart specially for Him. There's a lot they have to do before they can serve Him: sprinkle special water on themselves, wash their clothes (no big deal), shave their whole bodies (kind of a big deal), and offer sacrifices. All of that is to make them pure or clean enough to serve God in His tabernacle.

Reading about how God had them set apart reminded me of a passage from the New Testament, I Peter 2:9:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Peter (the writer) isn't speaking just to a group of Levites, pastors, missionaries, or the twelve disciples. He's talking to regular Christians. God doesn't want just the Levites to be His own special people. He wants all of us to be His, set apart to honor and praise Him. And Jesus was already the sacrifice to make us clean before God, so we don't have to do the purification rituals the Levites did. Pretty amazing, if you ask me!!!

So, what do YOU think it means to be set apart as God's people? What does that look like in our lives? Is there anything special you think He's calling you to do?