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A Daily Consecration to God, July 9
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1
.
The ministration of the sanctuary consisted of two divisions, a daily
and a yearly service. The daily service was performed at the altar of
burnt offering in the court of the tabernacle, and in the holy place; while
the yearly service was in the most holy....
The daily service consisted of the morning and evening burnt offer-
ing, the offering of sweet incense on the golden altar, and the special
offerings for individual sins. And there were also offerings for sabbaths,
new moons, and special feasts.
Every morning and evening a lamb of a year old was burned upon
the altar, with its appropriate meat offering, thus symbolizing the daily
consecration of the nation to Jehovah, and their constant dependence
upon the atoning blood of Christ. God expressly directed that every
offering presented for the service of the sanctuary should be “without
blemish. ”... Only an offering “without blemish” could be a symbol
of His perfect purity who was to offer Himself as “a lamb without
blemish and without spot.”
1 Peter 1:19
. The apostle Paul points to
these sacrifices as an illustration of what the followers of Christ are to
become. He says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service.” ...
The hours appointed for the morning and the evening sacrifice were
regarded as sacred, and they came to be observed as the set time for
worship throughout the Jewish nation.... In this custom, Christians have
an example for morning and evening prayer. While God condemns a
mere round of ceremonies, without the spirit of worship, He looks with
great pleasure upon those who love Him, bowing morning and evening
to seek pardon for sins committed, and to present their requests for
needed blessings.
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