Part 3: Priest Jesus

Hebrews 4:14 (ESV)—14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

In the Old Testament era, there was a priesthood. They existed to serve and worship God, but also to facilitate the worship of others. They were focused on God, but also on God's people. They were meant to make the house of God a house of prayer for all nations. Their lives were focused upward, but also outward.

Jesus replaced that priesthood and established another. The Old Testament priests would offer sacrifices, but Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice. Because of his ultimate and final sacrifice, the Bible says he Priest forever.

He is our priest. And when he came, he made it clear his life was about loving his Father and his people. Everything he did was an act of worship and obedience to the Father God, and his whole mission centered around dying for the people of the world. When they asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, he said it was to love God, with a second like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. As priest, Jesus did both with perfection.

And now, we are to operate as a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6). We call this the priesthood of all believers (see 1 Peter 2:1-12). We are called to love God and serve others with the same heart those Old Testament priests did -- with the heart of our Lord.

Be Godward Focused

Let us be Godward focused. Each day, let us tune our hearts to heaven's frequency. All the great people of God were people of prayer, people of the word. They diligently sought God -- just as Hebrews promises -- and they were rewarded (Hebrews 11:6).

I encourage you in your devotional life to God. Have one. Have a quiet time, a daily office, a daily post (as one of my pastors called it). Each day, get before God and commune with him.

Believers often commit one of two errors on this subject. On one side, there is the belief that we all interact in different ways with God, so we should simply find a way that works for us. But Scripture teaches us that health comes to us when we engage in prayer and with the word. Finger painting and collecting seashells might provide you a modicum of refreshment, but they aren't your devotional life. On the other side, we sometimes get too granular in precisely 'how' someone ought to be in the word and prayer. I believe every person should have the word and prayer in their lives, but our experiences will vary.

That said, I will give you insight into my devotional life. It is far from perfect, but it has worked for me over the past twenty-plus years.

My Daily Devotional Practice

Each day, the alarm clock goes off, and a battle begins. I have social media, email, and internet browsers disabled on my phone -- and only my wife can turn them back on -- so I have already won the battle to check email or the news first thing in the morning. So I put a pot of water on to make a cup of coffee. While it boils, I listen to a Scripture-based audiobook. After fifteen minutes of waking up, making coffee, taking vitamins, and doing some old-man stretching, I sit down at my desk.

With coffee in hand, I leave my phone behind and turn to a good ol' analog journal and my Bible. I usually have two bookmarks -- one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. On average, I will read three Old Testament chapters and one in the New, which gets me through the Bible about once per year. As I read, I write down very short notes or prayers based on what I'm reading.

I find many of my journal entries are actually in the form of prayers, part of "praying without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The idea is that we are in constant communion with God. And I want to get after it in prayer, so I budget some time for that each morning. After reading, I head out for a short prayer walk, where I will talk to God about what I read, the day to come, and other prayer concerns I've accumulated over the years.

I have prayer lists, but they are mostly in my heart by now, so I will just pray through my life and lists as I walk and talk with God. The responsibilities and people of my life are frequent subjects in prayer. My walk, my character, my marriage, my children, and my friendships are topics of conversation with my Father in heaven. Calvary Monterey and its leadership, direction, and fruitfulness are constantly on my mind in prayer. The people God has placed in my life are also significant in my prayer life.

Be People Oriented

One last thing. The ancient priests in Israel were Godward focused but people-oriented. A robust priesthood in Israel was a lagging indicator of the regular people's spiritual health. When they showed up for worship, the priests had to show up too. More people and more priests to serve them.

And Jesus, of course, was also intensely people-oriented. I don't want to say he was constantly available. He knew how to say 'no.' He went into the wilderness for prayer. His days began with solitude before his Father. But he was orientated to care for people. The sick, the oppressed, the poor, and the hungry all got Jesus' attention. And the bulk of his focus was on twelve men -- a group who would help him establish his church.

We must, like Jesus, grow in our ability to care for others. You cannot be devoted to God without serving your fellow man.

My Walk With Jesus

I began walking with Jesus in 1996. Fresh out of the world, in God's providence, I was placed in a Bible study about the Holy Spirit. The pastor explained how the Spirit could help us serve Jesus better. One day, he asked if any of us wanted him to pray for them. I accepted his humble invitation.

In the weeks that followed, I began seeing evidence of the Spirit's work in my life. I wondered if he was shaping me to teach and lead God's people. But the major change was a brand new love for God's people. It seemed every group of Christians was an opportunity. Inevitably, after each group dispersed, I was left with one or two hurting souls, trying to encourage them with the few scriptural bullets in my clip. God had changed me and had given me a love for his people. We cannot be like Christ without this love.

Conclusion

When I was a boy, when two guys wanted to fight each other, it was often preceded by quite a bit of posturing. And one of the requirements, as far as I remember it, was that one boy would call out another. "I call you out!" he would say. It was an ultimatum. To call someone out was to throw down a challenge. What kind of man are you? I call you out!

Well, today, I call you out. I do not mean I want to meet you in the parking lot after you read this. But the real you, the new creation in Christ Jesus, the Christlike person within, I call him out. I call you out to be kingly like Jesus. I call you out to be prophetic like Jesus. I call you out to be priestly like Jesus.