97_Consecration for service Ex 29:1-9“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, 9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. A job applicant arrived for an interview at one of the top companies. He had impressive qualifications and an outstanding resume. However, he ignored the dress code stipulated by the company for the interview. He assumed that the company wouldn’t mind his informal apparel because of his credentials. However, he was turned away. The directors rightly assumed that someone who was careless about their wishes in such a minor matter would cause much more trouble down the road. In the same way, we may greatly desire to serve God, but we must be prepared for his service. This principle is vividly illustrated in Exodus 29:1-9, where Moses was given detailed instructions about the consecration of Aaron and his sons so that they could serve as priests in the Tabernacle. God’s servants must be holy. Consecration is the prerequisite for service. Every sinner who comes to God in repentance and faith in the name of Jesus Christ is washed and clothed in righteousness. But when Aaron and his sons were chosen to minister before the Lord, he instructed Moses about their garments and their consecration. This demonstrates the importance, not just of their function but their consecration for their holy calling. The first step was washing them with water. Every one of us needs to be purified through repentance and obedience to the word of God. Repentance is nothing but realizing the wrongness of our ways and correcting them. Isaiah 52:11 exhorts, “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” True service to God demands cleansing from the defilement of the flesh, and from the desire to conform to the world in its disobedient and self-serving ways. After washing, the priestly garments were put on them, denoting their God-given authority, holiness, and single-minded devotion to God’s service. They were then girded with sashes, so that they would be unhindered by distractions as they moved about their work. Heb 12:1 instructs us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let