Kings and Priests – The Promise
The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Deuteronomy 30:10 (NLT)
During the coronation ceremony, The Recognition is followed by The Oath. The monarch promises to uphold the law of the land and be a guardian of the Christian faith. The monarch receives the titles “Defender of the Faith” and “Supreme Governor of the Church of England.”
Just as the new monarch promises to uphold and defend the Christian faith, we who have been born again into newness of life make a promise to uphold God’s laws and commandments. An inherently fundamental part of this promise is choosing to forsake all else, choosing to lay down our lives as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. This is the appeal that Paul makes in his letter to the Romans.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 (ESV)
Choose Life
God’s saving grace should compel us to present our lives as a sacrifice to Him. It should compel us to strive to live holy lives that are acceptable to God. We live holy lives when we are not conformed to this world and everything that corrupts us. This world will lure us to believe its lies and to follow after its pleasures. This is what the people of Israel faced on their way to the promised land. They were faced with the worldly pleasures they encountered in nations that did not follow God. But God made it clear that there would be consequences to their disobedience.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days. Deuteronomy 30:19-20a (ESV)
Each day, we have choices we need to make. Will we choose to succumb to the pleasures of this world that lead to spiritual death and a life of slavery? Or will we choose the higher truth of His Word that leads to life? Will we choose to obey His Word and hold fast to Jesus, who is the source of life? The choice is ours. When we choose life, we choose to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to Him. As a fragrant offering of worship, which befits a king and priest in the kingdom of our God.
So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 (NLT)
Reflection:
Do you find yourself succumbing to the pleasures of this world? Will you consider offering your life as a living sacrifice to God so that you can be a king and priest in His kingdom?
Prayer:
Dear Lord, I offer my life as a living sacrifice to You so that I may be a vessel of honour. Help me not to yield to the pleasures of this world. Help me choose life so that I will glorify You as Your priest and king. In Jesus’ name, amen.
