The Lord said to Moses, “I hereby accept the Levites from among the Israelites as substitutes for all the firstborn that open the womb among the Israelites. The Levites shall be mine.” (Numbers 3:12). God had originally claimed the first-born of all Israel: “When I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both human and animal; they shall be mine. I am the Lord” (3:13).

But now the Lord would take, in place of the first-born, all the tribe of Levi. The census revealed that there were 22,000 Levite males, age one month or more (3:39), and 22,273 first-born among the sons of Israel, age one month or more (3:43); and a specific accommodation had to be made for that difference of 273 (3:46-49).

Of course, all of Israel belongs to the Lord; indeed, all the world belongs to the Lord. Yet the Levites would belong to the Lord in a particular way, with duties and responsibilities that others did not have. I suppose that some may have resented that; they may have imagined that they would prefer to choose a destiny for themselves, rather than recognizing that their identity as Levites required a certain kind of service to God. It is a common theme of literature: the hero has a calling, determined by heritage or family, but he or she wishes to break free of that requirement in order to choose some different life’s work.

Yet the story of the Levites forms a parable for us. Although we want to imagine that the primary thing for each of us is to choose our path in life, it turns out that the primary thing is to recognize what God has already done. The decisive turn in the story has already happened: the Lord has chosen us. It is now for us – for me – to respond to the initiative that God has already taken.

* * * *

Long before we ever understood, you made your decision, O Lord: you have claimed us for yourself, and we are yours. Grant us the grace to follow – not to rebel, as if we might come up with some better plan than yours – but to follow and fulfill your calling, day by day.