"Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to His command. So fire came out from the presence of he Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord."
The Old Testament was a harrowing time spiritually. If you did not follow exactly what the Lord God commanded, He literally took your life. There was virtually no room for error, especially in the priesthood. Those who ministered before the Lord had to follow the law precisely with no deviation at all. One little mistake and it was the end. There was no grace. In this instance, the fire on the altar of burnt offering was to never go out; one of the priestly duties was to make sure it was always burning. Apparently the two boys had neglected their obligations and in a moment of whatever, lit the fire inappropriately. The key word in this scripture is "unauthorized" or not sanctioned. They treated, or ministered to the Lord in an UNHOLY manner. And God dealt severely with them.
Old Testament or New, we serve a MOST HOLY GOD. That will never, ever change. God demands, requires, deserves our utmost respect. Just because we are now under grace because of Jesus does NOT give us license to disrespect Him. And yet, for the most part, we make no preparations before we come into His presence. We sit in church on a Sunday morning yaking and blabbing and discussing everything under the sun but God, and as soon as the pastor steps up, we have "instant worship". We have not spent time preparing our hearts to enter the Throne Room of Almighty God, we just barge in cluttered and covered with all the trash of the world and expect to be in the position of right worship.
The key word in this verse is "unauthorized", or not sanctioned. What Nadab and Abihu did was not what God wanted done; they did something not pleasing to the Lord. And they died. God might not strike us dead but He will reject our worship. When we come before Him with a wrong heart-attitude, He will ignore us, tune us out, reject our offering. Like Cain, it is second or third rate worship, unholy and not worthy.
Let us take the time to clean up our spirits in repentence, preparing our hearts to worship the Lord our God in spirit and in truth. No arguing, fighting, gossiping on the way to Sunday worship or when we are in church waiting for the service to begin. This should be time spent preparing ourselves for worship. Everything takes preparation. We clean up and dress up our physical selves for worship, why not our spirits, our hearts? The Lord Jesus Chirst deserves our very, very best.
Honor the Lord with all that you are. Take the time to "dress up" your heart for Him.
"Sweet Jesus, forgive me. Forgive my lack of respect for you. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Help me to always be in an attitude of prayer, so that I may always be in your Throne Room, always worshiping You. I want my life to be an honor and blessing to You. O Lord my God, I pray that the attitude of my heart, the thoughts of my mind and the words of my lips will be pleasing and holy in Your sight. Amen."
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
2 Samuel 6:6-7
Isaiah 6:5
Leviticus 19:32
22:2
Romans 13:7
Hebrews 12:9
1 Pete 2:17
2 Corinthians 13:12
1 Timothy 2:8
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