In review of 1 Peter 2:5 I read, “Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” (GNT)
What are the "spiritual sacrifices" I offer to God. Obedience from my heart is most important. God wants me, his "holy priest" to offer myself as a living and spiritual sacrifice, daily laying aside my own desires and following him, putting all of my energy and resources at his disposal, and trusting him to guide me.
In the Old Testament, priests did two things:
1. They had the right, privilege, and responsibility to go directly to God. They could pray and talk to God, worship, and fellowship with God. Everybody else had to go through a priest.
2. The priest had the privilege and responsibility of representing God to the people and ministering to the needs of other people (serving).
Those are the very two things that are true of me when I become a believer.
The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross, there was a veil in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies, where God’s Spirit was, from where man was. Only priests could go behind that veil once a year. When Jesus died on the cross, God ripped that veil—about 70 feet—from top to bottom, symbolizing that there no longer was a barrier.
I now have direct access to God. I don’t have to pray through anybody else. I don’t have to confess through anybody else. I don’t have to fellowship with God through anybody else. Read my Bible, talk with the Lord, and fellowship directly with him.
I have also been gifted for ministry to serve others. Every Christian is a minister, not a pastor, but a minister. Anytime I use my talents and gifts to help others, I’m ministering.
The Bible says, “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:9 NLT).
One of the reasons God saved me is so that I could serve him and others.
To know what my ministry is, look at my talents, gifts, and abilities. When I use those talents and gifts to help others, that’s called ministry, nothing fancy or scary about it. It’s just helping others.
No matter what my work is, anytime I’m helping others in God’s name, I’m ministering.
In summary, I am to be a living stone, used to help build the spiritual temple, where I’ll serve as a holy priest to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God, through Jesus Christ. The "spiritual sacrifices" I offer to God is Obedience from my heart. I am to offer myself daily, laying aside my own desires and following him. I am to put all of my energy and resources at his disposal, and trust in him to guide me. In the Old Testament, priests did two things: They had the right, privilege, and responsibility to go directly to God. They could pray and talk to God, worship, and fellowship with God. Everybody else had to go through a priest. They had the privilege and responsibility of representing God to the people and ministering to the needs of other people (serving). Those two things that are true of me when I become a believer. When Jesus died on the cross, God ripped that veil in the temple from top to bottom, symbolizing that there no longer was a barrier. I have been gifted for ministry to serve others. I am to use my talents and gifts to help others (minster). God saved me so that I could serve him and others. To better understand and know what my ministry is, I need to look at my talents, gifts, and abilities. When I use those talents and gifts to help others, that’s called ministry.
My life is to be centered around serving God and helping others.Today, I’d like to consider what my talents, gifts and abilities are. If I properly identify these, I’ll know much more about what type of job I should pray for as well as just serving where I am. I ask you Father for wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership and my interactions with others. Also help to guide me in additional training I need and the type of job I should look for next. I pray these things through your Son Jesus’ name, Amen.
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