Today we read about the severe dedication required of the Aaronic riests. Even in the most touching instances, the death of a family member, they are not always to attend and bring comfort to their family members. This is to prevent them from defiling themselves and preventing themselves from ministering before the Lord. The job of a priest is to provide access to worship for the people. Without this work of the priest the people are unable to worship according to God's requirements. The Lord has prescribed particular ways in which worship is to be carried on. If his priests are not available, the people have no access to God. It is a holy obligation, one which is to be taken very seriously.
While we may think it is all a burden, notice also that those descendants of Aaron who are somehow not qualified as priests due to physical disabilities are provided for anyway. They are to engage in as normal a life as they can, but are not allowed to offer the sacrifices. The person who brings an offering to God is to be free from the defects God lists for us in Leviticus 21. Yet those priests who are disqualified receive the same living as the priests who are working with the sacrifices.
The callings of the Lord are not according to our desires. They are not according to our abilities. They are not according to our popularity. They follow his distinctive pattern. Let us rejoice as we see our Lord working out his plan in this world, a plan which we would not have devised, a plan which is different from our plan.
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