The beginning of Numbers starts with a census of all the Israelites. With the help of the tribal leaders, Moses does a census of all male Israelites who are 20 years or older so that they can serve in the army. Only the Levites were not included in the number as they were set apart to help the priests with tabernacle duties.
We can see in the first four chapters just how organized the camp is. Each tribe has an assigned place around the tabernacle. Each tribe knows how they are to set out when the Lord leads them out (Numbers 2:17).
For the Levites, the responsibilities of each clan is laid out. Each clan were responsible for the different parts of the tabernacle. The Kohathites were responsible for the Holy articles (Numbers 4:4), the Gershonites were responsible for the coverings (Numbers 4:25) and the Merarites were responsible for the beams (Numbers 4:31-32).
Our God is orderly. When things are in order, there is peace. In the New Testament with the church, God tells the Corinthians that there gatherings must be in an orderly fashion (1 Corinthians 14:33, 14:40).
In our own lives, we must place things in order as well. Everything in our homes should have it’s place. There should be an order in the things we do each day and not do things randomly.
Order is a sign of self-control which is what the Holy Spirit gives.. Self-control is the ability to control one’s actions, thoughts, and words. Without self-control, chaos will happen. In other words, it’s self-discipline.
Self-control is hard. I personally struggle with this a lot. My home isn’t very tidy. I do things on a whim all the time. I set out to read the Bible in One Year. However, after the first four weeks, I stopped for the next 10 weeks.
Not being self-controlled can leave you vulnerable (Proverbs 25:28). You must have self-control before you can have perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:3-7). As you become more self-controlled, you will start being able to persevere. The more we can self-control, the more effective we will be as God’s servant (2 Peter 1:8-9).
Due to my lack of self-control, I couldn’t persevere when things got busy around me in week 5. Afterwards, it took me 10 weeks to get back to reading the Bible daily. By God’s grace, He’s been helping me improve. He’s given me a dedicated time each day to read his Word (basically, wake up earlier). I’ve now started reading my Bible each day again (8 days in a row as of this writing).
If you lack self-control, ask God for help. He will help you and show you how you can be more self-controlled.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7