Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Holy Ordination: A Fragrance to Christ
Exodus 29: 1-21

Christine Windsor
Phoenix MTC, AZ
18 and turn the whole ram into smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord.
In this passage in Exodus, the process of being ordained as a priest in the Old Testament time is being described. First, a young bull is  to be taken and slaughtered in the tent of meeting. Along with plenty of other specific directions, this was what needed to be done to consecrate them. These days, ordination of priests does not require  the sacrifice of animals but we can think of it as symbolism. As burnt offerings are considered pleasing to God, we as Christians can please God through our actions. As we are a fragrance to Christ, our responsibility is to please God by listening to his “instructions of life”. By this, we should read the Bible, pray to God, honor His Commandments, and spend time with others learning about the Word and growing with wisdom to understand more about God and His plans for us. These are all ways we can please God.     1 Thessalonians 4:1 says: "Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. ” which proves just how important it is to please God. We please God so we can “excel more”. But a question arises: How can we please God without the animal sacrifices? That's why Christ came to this world. We do not need to perform animal sacrifices to please God. Hebrews 13:16 describes pleasing God as “not neglecting to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God”. In our church and in our community, we can do many things such as volunteering, praying for others, sharing our resources  or simply caring and loving  others. These actions will make God so happy because we are spreading His examples of goodness and love.


PRAYER


Heavenly Father, we pray that You help us to be good to others and spread  Your love so that we may be pleasing to  You. Help us to love our enemies, and care for those around us and help us in our times of trouble. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

In what ways do we or our church take steps to please God?

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