It happened again. I was reading in one devotional and it focused on “The Priesthood of Believers.” I was reminded that we used 1 Peter 2:9-10 during our worship service the previous week. The next day I was reading in another devotional, and again, another perspective of what it means to be in the priesthood of Christ. So I figured God was telling me to listen and think about that passage more. 

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We are so blessed. We are chosen by God. He calls us into the royal priesthood. In the Old Testament, the priests were the chosen ones who were allowed to go into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God. They would enter God’s presence behind the curtain in the Temple only once a year. They were responsible for instructing the people in God’s Law and making sure they understood it and cared for the Israelites spiritual health. The priests seemed to have a closer relationship with God because of the tasks given to them by God. The priests cared for the temple, offered sacrifices and prayed to God on behalf of the Israelites. The Israelites had to go through the priests to have a personal relationship with God.

We are blessed since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross – we are able to come directly before God ourselves. We no longer have to go through the priests. We belong to the priesthood of God. Believers in Jesus Christ are created and called to worship and glorify God. We are encouraged to spend time in God’s Word and grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the LORD. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Romans 8:26 & 27 says, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

Because of the blood of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are able to have an intimate, close and personal relationship with the Alpha and Omega, the Creator of the Universe, our Father God. We can approach the throne room of God with boldness and confidence that He will hear us. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.” We no longer have to have the priests approach God in the Holy of Holies, we can pour out our hearts in prayer directly to God.

Praise God, the one priestly duty we do NOT have to do is perform sacrifices. God did that through the sacrifice of His perfect Son. Jesus Christ died in place of you and me. We are to tell others how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ for everyone. And even more praises, we aren’t restricted from God to once a year being in His presence. At the moment Jesus breathed His last, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom! Mark 15:37-38. We are now allowed in His presence daily. We know we are in His presence in church, but He is with us when we are sitting at the desk, walking in His creation, driving down the road, caring for busy toddlers or elderly parents.

Enjoy the blessings of being fully in the presence of God every day ~ Faye

I am linked with Good Morning Girls and Beholding Glory-Faith Filled Fridays.

Sources: God’s Word; Charles Stanley, In Touch January 2012; Abundant Blessings, Nancy Guthrie