Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Numbers chapter 17, verse 8.

On the next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony.

And behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

So here's the picture in Numbers 17. God wanted to make clear to his people that he had appointed Aaron and the Levites for his service,

that he had chosen them for that task. He was blessing them for that task of representing God

before them. And so God tells Moses, take a staff representing each tribe, put it in the tent of the

testimony, and then see what happens when you come back and you get these staffs. And so they come

back, Moses comes back, he pulls out the stabs, and yes, the one for the

Aaron and the house of Levi, the Levites, had blossomed in all these ways, a picture of God

saying, I am pleased with their service, with what they will do on behalf of the people.

When you get this kind of image in your mind, I just want you to

think about, and we've talked about this at different points because there's a theme that comes up

in all kinds of different places in the Bible. But Jesus is our perfect high priest who in the presence of God blossoms and bears fruit and is pleasing to God.

And so how can you and I in our lives be pleasing to God?

How can we bear fruit?

How can we blossom, flourish, experience the favor of God?

Here's how.

By tying ourselves to Jesus, by hiding in Jesus, by running to Jesus, by trusting in Jesus. Jesus is the way to life.

Jesus is the way to fruit bearing in our lives. Jesus is the way to favor from God.

It's all found in Jesus. The Father is pleased in the Son and in all who trust in the

Son and hide in the Son and follow the Son and obey the Son. Everything depends on Jesus.

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