Serving God in the harvest

Thinking about the harvest time that is now upon us, I was reading 1 Chronicles 9 last night. I came across something that made me take notice. The passage in question is listing all of the people who had a part in the temple worship and their responsibility. I was amazed to see the name of Shallum in this list.

You may be wondering who Shallum was, well to be honest, I was too when I first read it. Reading the rest of the verse, we see that he was the great-grandson of Korah. Of course, we know that Korah was the one who lifted himself up against the leadership of Moses in the wilderness and led the rebellion that resulted in him losing his life.

I often thought (growing up) that his entire family died with him, but here we see evidence that this was not the case. Looking back to Numbers 26:11, we read that "Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not". I can imagine that people looked down on them and held against them the fact that their daddy was responsible for the death of many, himself included. I know that children can sometimes be harsh in their criticism and ridicule.

Irregardless of what was said to them or what they felt about what had only recently transpired, we see in Korah's kids a desire to go on serving God and not letting the sins of their family keep them from the present and future that God had reserved for them.

Now, many years later, we see Korah's great-grandchildren faithfully serving God in the place God has set for them. There were 11 psalms written by the sons of Korah (Psalms 42, 44-49, 84-88). Some of his sons were porters in the temple. Others were keepers of the doors. They all had a place and they were all in their place doing the work of God, and God was using them in a big way.

Praise God that he graciously allows us to serve. When we dedicate ourselves to serving Him, we often find that He blesses us and uses us (in spite of our frailties) in ways we could never have dreamed possible. If serving God was only for those who came from good families, there are not many of us that would be accepted.

I'm praying that God will give us a great harvest as we serve Him in the only work that REALLY counts for eternity.