Articles
TAKING HOLY THINGS FOR GRANTED
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire
therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he
commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they
died before the LORD” (Leviticus 10:1-2).
This situation came about because these two sons of Aaron were careless in their service
to God. But notice the two verses before this. “And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of
the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared
unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the
altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their
faces” (Leviticus 9:23-24).
The “glory of the Lord” appeared to the people, and the Lord sent a fire out that
consumed the sacrifice, and “all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.” And then
in the very next verse, Nadab and Abihu brought down more fire from the Lord by their
disobedience. It makes me wonder, how could they have done this? Weren’t they paying
attention?
I don’t know all of the reasons that Nadab and Abihu made their fateful choice, but one
thing is obvious. They took holy things for granted. They were the right people, doing the right
thing, in the right place, but in the wrong way. And they paid for it with their lives.
I wonder how often we are guilty of taking holy things for granted. Have you ever
partaken of the Lord’s Supper, and then realized that you didn’t even think about what Christ did
for you? Most all of us are guilty of singing words we don’t mean or believe in worship. When
we sing “Anywhere with Jesus,” do we mean it? When we sing, “all to Thee, I surrender,” do we
mean it?
