Seize the Moment – Day 896
The Privilege and Purpose of the Priesthood!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, August 30.
Every believer in Jesus Christ is a member of the “royal priesthood.” This status is bestowed upon us by God, as stated in 1 Peter 2:4-10. This means that every believer has access to God, with Jesus as our “great high priest” (Hebrews 4:14-16) and “mediator” (Hebrews 9:15). It also means that our salvation has a purpose – we offer right sacrifices to God (Hebrews 13:15-16; Romans 15:16).
A central concern of the Chronicler is highlighted in the eighty-one verses of 1 Chronicles 6 – the continuity of the tribe of Levi as the authorized priests and temple workers of Israel. The Levites were responsible for offering right worship to Yahweh, as prescribed through the Law. They were at the center of Israelite faith and practice, and at the heart of the people’s identity as a nation set apart for God’s purposes. In 1 Chronicles 6:48-49 the Chronicler reminds the returned exiles of the Levites’ responsibilities as authorized by the founders:
Their kinsmen the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God. But Aaron and his sons offered on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
Then and now, the priesthood, chosen by God and bestowed by His royal decree, is both a privilege and a purpose! This was the central message of the Chronicler to the Levites, just as it is through the Holy Spirit to believers in Jesus Christ today.
Seize the moment and meditate on God’s calling upon your life to be a member of the “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:4-10), then respond to Him by presenting yourself as “a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).