Most Christians know their sins need forgiving, but what about our service? Even when we’re doing the right things, we never do them perfectly.
We pray a public prayer in church, but part of us wonders what others think.
We start singing in worship and then find ourselves thinking about lunch.
We preach a sermon and enjoy the compliments at the door a little too much.
We serve behind the scenes and quietly resent that no one sees it.
We say yes to helping, then grumble through it.
We forgive someone, but we keep the record filed away just in case.
We fast and pray, and feel slightly more spiritual than the people who don’t.
Long before we experienced any of these situations, God saw the need to address failure in service and commanded that a small gold plate be tied to the front of a priest’s turban.
“Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: holy to the Lord. 37 Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. 38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron’s forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the Lord.” (Exodus 28 v 36-38)
A gold plate on Aaron’s forehead with three words engraved on it like a seal, Holy to the Lord. On first reading, it might seem strange to read that it carried the guilt of their gifts.
The best things they had to offer still needed covering.
So God gave Israel a priest who wore holiness on his forehead. Why? So that their gifts “will be acceptable to the Lord.” Their offerings were accepted because of the one who carried them.
Our High Priest doesn’t wear holiness. He is holy. Hebrews describes him as holy, blameless and pure, set apart from sinners. He takes our unholy, sinful and disobedient worship and presents it to God the Father, but it is covered by His perfection, not ours.
Pray the public prayer, even if part of you still wonders what others think.
Keep singing, even when your mind drifts to lunch.
Preach the sermon, and hand the compliments back to God at the door.
Keep serving behind the scenes. Your High Priest sees it.
Say yes, and if you catch yourself grumbling, bring that to him too.
Keep forgiving, and ask him to help you tear up the record.
Keep fasting and praying, and remember that it’s grace, not achievement.
Your High Priest stands before the throne with holiness written over him. He takes your imperfect offering and makes it acceptable.
