Wednesday, June1: Leviticus 21- sacrifice self-imposed restrictions for the sake of service.

The role of a priest in Israel was a great honor and came with significant restrictions. A priest could not grieve like everyone else. Only for close relatives could a priest defile himself in grief. Another example is that a priest had more restrictions on whom he could marry.  With the honor and privilege of serving the Lord as priest came priestly restrictions.

In the NT all Christ-followers are part of God’s royal priesthood (1Peter 2:9). Building on this thought I began to ponder the honor of being Christ’s priest. I represent people to God and God to people.

How well am I representing the Lord as I live my life? Since my profession is pastor, it is tempting to use that for my answer. But that feel more like avoiding than pondering so I pressed past my professional duties and time to my discretionary time. How well do I represent God to the people of my woodworking class or at the gym? How clearly do my family members see Jesus in me?

Sometimes it is with those closest that we represent Christ the least effectively…

I pushed on to the second aspect of priesthood that I noticed in this chapter, restrictions. There is freedom in Christ from the law, absolutely. But there is also a call to sacrifice.

And what is sacrifice but self-imposed restrictions for the sake of service.

Where do I sacrifice for the Lord? Do I sacrifice for the Lord? This is tougher to process because I live a pretty comfortable life. I wouldn’t say there is obvious sacrifice in my life. Maybe in the area of giving I ‘sacrifice’ more than some in my culture, but is it really sacrifice when I still enjoy a lifestyle most in the world would long for?

Time, do I really sacrifice my time? I might do a little volunteering but, again, can I call it sacrifice? It is certainly not anywhere near the call placed on OT priests or the NT apostles we meet in the pages of Scripture.

This morning I am wondering if there is some much needed ramping up necessary in my ‘priestly’ life.

How about you???

Lord, I have the incredible honor of being a priest for You in this world. Show me, Lord, where I need improvement in my job performance. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

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