Is Order a Good Thing?

1 Chronicles 24: ⁵ They divided them impartially by casting lots, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.

⁶ The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officials: Zadok the priest, Ahimelek son of Abiathar and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar and then one from Ithamar.

⁷ The first lot fell to Jehoiarib,

the second to Jedaiah,

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and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

¹⁹ This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the Lord, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

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“Please stand for the reading” said a priest to us. I was not familiar with the process so I felt a bit uncomfortable. As everyone spoke in unison, I stood fumbling over the words trying to determine what would be next. 

Every prayer, scripture and statement was written out for me. My mind wandered to the fact that there was SO much left on the itinerary. “When will we ever get out of here?” I thought to myself.

• Sometimes I get distracted in church because I want to be somewhere else.
• Sometimes I can’t see the purpose of church because I am thinking of the problems I am facing.
• Sometimes I think GOD isn’t in church because the spontaneity isn’t visible to me.

As I read this chapter this morning, I was tempted to skim read it because it seemed like another list of people who I couldn’t pronounce or remember.  Then it hit me.

• GOD had David create an “order of service” through a spontaneous method.
• GOD chose which order each of the twenty four ministers would serve.
• GOD was pleased to give an order to service to worship.

Everything in the universe has order. While things seem spontaneous to me, they are of no surprise to GOD. This made me rethink the boredom I experienced when worship was structured. A gentleman explained why he enjoyed reading prayers.

He said, “I enjoy reading words and meanings that were actually spoken to JESUS as HE walked the earth. I love singing songs from people who touched our risen SAVIOR.” This floored me. I never thought of it that way.

While humans have created division through religion, GOD still sees who is genuinely serving HIM and is pleased with their actions. HE wants me to recognize that “order” is a good thing as long as the focus is on HIM.

• Are you distracted in church?
• Do you think church is for your entertainment?
• Can you recognize How GOD is pleased with the order of service?