DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 22 Sept 2024
TOPIC: Are You Listed In The Book?
TEXT: Ezra 2:61-63 (KJV)
61 And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:
62 These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.
KEY VERSE
“These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.”
Ezra 2:62
DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 22 Sept 2024 MESSAGE
The concept of eternal security has a tendency to lull people into self-delusion, but could eventually pull them into a damnable eternity. The result is a colossal loss from which people do not recover. It is worse when a person, by deception, gains entry into the office of a priest, when he is eminently unqualified.
Ezra had advisedly decided to conduct an audit of the priests who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, and was surprised to discover that there were those serving in the temple but whose names could not be traced in the register of priests. “Therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood…that they should not eat of the most holy things.” Their careless disposition to the office of the priesthood probably prevented them from a constant self-check to ensure that their names were not missing from the genealogy of priests.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Saturday 21 September 2024 – A Name Like No Other
Having the opportunity to be part of the royal priesthood is indeed a great privilege. However, this must not be taken for granted. All who have been redeemed and called to be His priests are expected to maintain the sanctity of their calling. God will not condone and retain in the priesthood anyone that falls short of His holy standard.
While the priests in Jerusalem were registered in the book of genealogy, the book of life in heaven contains only the names of all redeemed souls. Careless Christians who do not take their calling seriously will discover to their disappointment, on the last day, that their names are not written in the book of life, and therefore they are excluded from heaven. This is why true believers must relentlessly keep watch over their lives and rest on the grace of the Lord so they will not fall out of faith.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 19 September 2024 – Sacrificial Giving
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Enrolment in God’s book through cleansing in Christ’s blood qualifies us for acceptable service.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 35-36
