Dear church,

The story of the Levites was the story of the divine prerogative. They were given their tasks by God himself. The Kohathites carried the sacred contents of the tabernacle. But only the priests were tasked with preparing those things for travel.

The Gershonites and the Merarites could load up on their own the things they were given to transport. Those things were less holy. Male Levites from 30 to 50 years old were given these tasks. 

All of this was directed by God himself – just as God instructed the men of the 12 tribes, from 20 years old and upward, to be ready to serve in battle when called upon. 

God established these things. And God’s people were to work with seamless precision, fulfilling the greater body’s mission as a holy nation, chosen and set aside by God.

You have been given a gift and a calling as well. The principle remains the same in the New Covenant. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

God first appointed the apostles – another set of 12 – to carry out the mission of the kingdom. Then came the prophets, evangelists, elders, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). They build up the body of Christ. And you are part of that body. 

You do not select your gift, and it may have nothing to do with your acquired skills or natural talents. It is a divine gift for you to discern and then to carry out – so that “the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16).

As with the Levites, this service is a service of “bearing burdens.” The new tabernacle, the church, requires maintenance and support – willing hands and feet. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

The church languishes when its people do not recognize their gifts and when each part is not working “properly” – when burdens aren’t being carried along by those who were designed to carry them. Sometimes, it is appropriate to ask God, “To what ministry have you called me?”

And then do what God says.

Chris