It doesn’t take long for humans to learn the concept of “I can do it myself.” My children all learned it early in life and whether it was putting on socks and shoes or turning out lights they were determined that they could and would do it themselves. (much to my frustration at times!) Today’s scripture describes an event where Aaron’s sons decided they too could do it themselves and offered incense that was not done the way God had told them to do it. Their impatience and independence cost them their lives. God was meticulous about how the priests were to make sacrifices and doing it improperly was not an option. Aaron and his sons were anointed for ministry they were to stay in the temple for 7 days. I pondered what they probably did in those 7 days. I believe they were continuing education days for each of the young men to learn what to sacrifice, when, and how. God was very specific in each of these areas and the priests were to carry it out as instructed. 2 of Aaron’s sons paid a heavy cost for choosing not to listen and obey. What made it even more difficult was that God told Aaron and the remaining sons not to mourn. As a parent I can’t imagine how that must have affected all of the priests. God knew the hearts of each of the priests and they represented Him. There was no room for “I can do it myself” attitudes.
In our lives God does want to us learn some independence but not be independent from Him. He wants us to trust and obey doing things His way for our good and His glory.