This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests. – Exodus 29:1a

Today's Scripture Reading (October 16, 2021): Exodus 29

"Leave it all on the field." The idiom indicates a desire to win. It is often used when the season's reality comes down to the final few games of whatever sport you might be playing or when the playoffs begin. The idiom is often used as someone suggests that "there is no shame in losing as long as you leave it all on the field." There is no use saving something for tomorrow when the reality is that the season is over if you lose to today. Leave it all out there. Exhaust yourself today and leave all of your blood, sweat, and tears on the playing arena. There is no use saving something for tomorrow because tomorrow doesn't exist if we don't win now.

I love to watch sports when the season comes down to the wire or in the playoffs because if the players don't leave it all on the field at other times, they do then. Or at least they should. The reality in sports is that winners find an extra gear during these situations. Good teams find a way to leave it all on the field. And all of this is the reason why sometimes inferior teams surprise us, and underdogs win. The favorites simply can't find that extra gear, while the underdog resolves to leave nothing in reserve and "leave it all on the field."

God gives instructions on how the priests were to be prepared for the ministry. Exodus 29 is the only place where these instructions are given, but the ceremony is carried out in Leviticus 8. The purpose of the ceremony was to consecrate the future priests, or in older translations, hallow them, making them holy. In the process of being consecrated to God, they were made ready to carry out their priestly duties in front of God. The pomp and circumstance of the ceremony were designed to remind future priests that they were embarking on a journey with God; from this day forward, they would be set aside for God. From this moment forward, they would "leave it all on the field" in their ministry for God.

In the tradition in which I grew up, we had a similar ceremony for this expression of holiness. There wasn't a special uniform or sacrifice, but there was a ritual. At the ceremony's climax, those who were being ordained would kneel at an altar or a place of prayer, usually placed on the platform. Then, all of those who had been ordained before gathered around the pastors ordained on that day, laying hands on them as someone prayed over them and their future ministries. The ceremony was designed to remind the newly ordained that the time had come for them to "leave it all on the field." and in the prayer, we are reminded of who we are; from this point on, the new pastors were consecrated to God's purposes and actions.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 30