God's Concern

I'm not normally a "devotional thought" kind of guy, but something has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks.

In Exodus 28, God gave Moses instructions about the sacred garments for Aaron and his sons. Note, in particular, verses 12 and 29. These refer to the ephod and the breastpiece. Although two entirely different pieces of attire with two different purposes, they have this in common--both were to "bear the names" of the sons of Israel as a type of memorial.

When wearing the ephod, the high priest would bear these names on his shoulders. What a hint of what God does for us--he is a God who daily bears our burdens, and even Jesus, when speaking of taking his yoke upon on (Matthew 11:28-30), helps us pull the load.

When wearning the breastpiece, the high priest would bear these names over his heart. What a hint of God's love and concern for us--in context, when making decisions for Israel, but Scripture declares that God is a God of compassion, grace, patient, and abounding in love (Exodus 34:5-ff).

We know from the New Testament that Jesus has fulfilled the position and function of the high priest, and we know of his freeing us "from the burden of sin" by the "power in the blood." But we too serve as priests, and, as such, we should have the same concern for our family in Christ that Jesus has--to "bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."