“You Had One Job!”

BIBLE READING: Leviticus 8-11

                Recently, I was scrolling through some social media site and stumbled across this image with the caption below it that read “You had one job!”.  If you haven’t caught it yet, the shirt is supposed to be a picture of the continent Asia; but that isn’t Asia, it’s Africa.  The designers of the shirt had one job, one job, and they messed it up.  That slogan sums up the story of Nadab and Abihu.  These were the two sons of Aaron and their one job was to get the fire to burn on the altar of incense.  Leviticus 10 records that Nadab and Abihu “… each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.” (Leviticus 10:1-2).  These two men had one job of ensuring that fire was provided to light the Altar of Incense, and they failed…miserably.  Now I am not sure exactly what it was that made this fire “unauthorized”?  Maybe it was the fact that they got it from the wrong place or did it in an unauthorized manner.  Regardless of where they got it or how they did it, it was wrong!  We can infer from the text, that although it isn’t recorded for us God must have given them specific instructions as to what they were to do.  Whatever it was that they did, it was not the way God had specifically commanded them to do it.  Their punishment was immediate death for their lack of obedience.  The lesson for us is this, the one job God has given to us is to obey Him.  All He simply asks of us is that we obey His commands.  If we fail to obey His commands, we will have to suffer the consequences.  According to the story of Nadab and Abihu, God means business.