You Are Called to Be a Priest  
By Pastor Jeffrey Smith

 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. - 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV).

 

It is God's desire that we become a kingdom of priests, yet many Christians have left the priesthood to the professionals on the stage at church. They say, “Let me let the pastors take care of it. Let me let the song leader who is so good at worship take care of worshipping for me.”

That's scary because it's actually our calling to be priests, but where did this separation come from? 

Centuries ago, the church tried to create a separation with the congregation. The leaders didn't allow people to have their own Bibles because they weren't qualified to read it. You weren't allowed to just openly worship in the church any way you wanted to. You had to repeat after what they were saying on stage.

There was a line that was drawn to separate the people from the priesthood, but that's not what the Bible says. It says that God wanted us to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

The sad part today is that even though we now have the freedom to worship, many Christians don't worship freely. They don't even open their Bible, but yet our calling is to be a priest. 

What is a priest?  The Old Testament shows us that the priests were to carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, stand before the Lord to minister, and pronounce blessings in his name. 

For today, that means everywhere you go, you create opportunities for people to meet God. You may happen to have an occupation as a doctor, teacher, or business owner, but your deepest calling is to be a priest unto the Lord. Knock down the wall of separation and don't be content to let someone take care of your spiritual life for you.

When we bring God our very best, we worship him and adore him the way we were created to. His glory then surrounds everything we do. God is the most glorified in us when we are the most satisfied in him. He called us to be priests unto Himself. Let’s walk in that calling today. 

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