It might have appeared unwarrantably harsh and severe in Levi not to have seen his parents, or known or acknowledged his brethren. But God’s claims are paramount, and our Lord Christ hath declared these solemn words, “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke xiv. 26.)
These are plain words, and they let us into the secret of what it is which lies at the bottom of all true service. Let no one imagine that we are to be without natural affection. Far be the thought. To be so would be to connect us, morally, with the apostasy of the last days. (See 2 Tim. iii. 3.) But when the claims of natural affection are allowed to stand in the way of whole-hearted service to Christ, and when the so-called love of our brethren receives a higher place than faithfulness to Christ, then are we unfit for His service and unworthy of the name of His servants. Let it be carefully noted that what formed the _moral_ ground of Levi’s title to be employed in the Lord’s service was the fact that he did not _see_ his parents, _acknowledge_ his brethren, or _know_ his children. In a word, he was enabled to set the claims of nature completely aside, and to give the claims of Jehovah the paramount place in his heart. This, we repeat, is the only true basis of the servant’s character.
This is a most weighty consideration, and one which demands the most serious attention of the Christian reader. There may be a vast amount of what looks like service—a great deal of activity, of coming and going, of doing and saying—and, all the while, there may not be a single atom of true Levite service—yea, it may, in God’s estimation, be only the restless activity of the will. What! it may be said, can the will show itself in the service of God—in matters of religion? Alas! alas! it can, and does. And very often the apparent energy and fruitfulness in work and service is just in proportion to the energy of the will. This is peculiarly solemn. It calls for the most rigid self-judgment, in the light of the divine presence. True service doth not consist in great activity, but in profound subjection to the will of our Lord; and where this exists, there will be a readiness to sink the claims of parents, brethren, and children, in order to carry out the will of Him whom we own as Lord. True, we should love our parents, our brethren, and our children. It is not that we should love these less, but we should love Christ more. He and His claims must ever have the paramount place in the heart, if we would be true workers for God, true servants for Christ, true Levites in the wilderness. It was this that marked the actings of Levi on the occasion to which we are referring. God’s claims were in question, and hence the claims of nature were not to be entertained for a moment. Parents, brethren, and children, how dear soever these might be, were not to stand in the way when the glory of the God of Israel had been changed into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Here lies the whole question, in all its weight and magnitude. The ties of natural relationship, with all the claims, duties, and responsibilities arising out of such ties, will ever get their proper place, their due respect, from those whose hearts and minds and consciences have been brought under the adjusting power of the truth of God. Naught, save what is really due to God and His Christ, should ever be suffered to infringe those rights which are founded upon natural relationship. This is a most necessary and wholesome consideration, and one which we would particularly press upon the young Christian reader. We have ever to be on our guard against a spirit of self-will and self-pleasing, which is never so dangerous as when it clothes itself in the garb of religious service and work so called. It behooves us to be _very sure indeed_ that we are directly and simply governed by the claims of God when we disregard the claims of natural relationship. In Levi’s case, the matter was as clear as a sunbeam, and hence the “_sword_” of judgment, not the kiss of affection, befitted the critical moment. So also in our history, there are moments in which it would be open disloyalty to our Lord Christ to hearken for one instant to the voice of natural relationship.
The above remarks may help the reader to understand the actings of the Levites in Exodus xxxii, and the words of our Lord in Luke xiv. 26. May God’s Spirit enable us to realize and exhibit the adjusting power of truth.
We shall now dwell for a few moments on the consecration of the Levites, in Numbers viii, in order that we may have the whole subject before our minds. Truly it is a theme full of instruction for all who desire to be workers for God.