OUR PRIESTLY RESPONSIBILITIES
The priests under the old covenant
were ordained to offer gifts and sacrifice to God, particularly on behalf of
the people.
Hebrews 5:1
We also have sacrifices and
fruits to offer but not like the priest of the Old Testament who offered to God
the blood of bulls and goats. Jesus our high priest offered the ultimate
sacrifice when he offered himself as a sacrifice for us Hebrews 7:26-27
Jesus offered Himself for us we
don’t need to offer the blood of bulls and goats any longer, but we still have
sacrifices to make to God. And we are also taught how to do it.
Firstly, we offer God the
sacrifice of praise.
Hebrews .13: 15
We give God the sacrifices of the
fruit of our lips by worshipping and praising Him. This is what we are supposed
to be doing in Zion. Psalm 141: 2
This is the first of our
responsibility as priest, we no longer offer blood but praise instead we lift
up our hands, not because we are being punished, our lifting up of hands is
like going into the house of God carrying blood before Him; it is a holy
sacrifice to God. Keep your hands lifted before Him and say, “Father, I worship
you.” When you do that there is understanding He give to you.
John 4: 23, 24
We are the people who worship the
father in truth and in Spirit
Hosea 14: 1, 2
The calf is an animal used for
sacrifices, so in effect they could say “so will we come to render the sheep or
the ram of our lips”. It means that when we begging to praise him like that, we
are offering to him something better than what the Old Testament priests offered
when they killed the calves and offered them to God.
1. INTERCESSION
Apart from praises we offer to
God, our prayer of intercession is also a sacrifice. Intercession is not
praying for yourself, real intercession is praying for others.
For yourself you can make
petitions or make demands, but for others you stand in their place and make
requests on their behalf.
So as a priest, you are to stand
in the gap for other people. The more you grow spiritually and the longer you
stay in the presence of God, the less you pray for yourself.
2.
TEACHING THE WORD
Malachi 2: 7
Matthew 10:
27
This is also one of our responsibilities
as a priest. You have people around you; people you work with and live with. Do
you know you are a priest in their midst? If they want to know something about
the kingdom of God, you are the first person they should consult.