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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature.
Not only those Devos' which have a different theme everyday but also the ones
which revolve around a certain theme over a period of time, say a fortnight have
richly edified me. In fact, both styles have their own inherent advantages.
If the former style caters to the varying spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day,
the latter aims 'to ground' a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full
benefits of the deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the styles'
whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different facets of it which admittedly
is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style than the 'Varying topics' one.
For starters in the first month of January I would be dwelling on the theme of the
"Christian Journey", with the material being arranged in a Book-like format under which the pages
would be opened ( i,e..displayed on-line) on each succeeding day.
So here's wishing you a happy & an edifying read....
Suresh Manoharan
January 23rd
The High Priest
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light -
I Peter 2:9
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In the journey of the emancipated Jews from the Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land,
we come to a point where we see the elaborate ordination process of Aaron
(the elder brother of Moses) as the first High priest in Jewish history.
His initiation into this 'Holy office', so vividly described in
Leviticus
8th chapter was in line with the Lord's instructions to Moses before
(refer Exodus 28th and 29th chapters).
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The whole book of Leviticus, with so much of attention to details on rituals to be observed would
bear witness to the fact that one of the main duties of the High Priest was that
of intercession, which translates that he would often plead the case of his people before God.
Now what lesson does this account hold for us Christians, even as we are comparing the
similarities between the journey of the redeemed Jews to the Promised Land with that
of the Christians to Heaven?
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For one thing, Christians as the above-captioned New testament
scripture portion bears out, are also Priests, Holy and set apart for God,
whatever be their area of work. The scripture is very clear that besides the Clergy,
the laity too have a very high calling of being 'Priests of God'. Not only in the Church
but at all places', be it a school, a office or a business place besides their Holy disposition,
yet another trait that ought to mark a Christian demeanor is that of intercession.
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Honestly, do we plead with our redeemer God (in privacy, of course) for the release
of our unsaved co-students, office colleagues, business partners from
the grip of Sin, even while leading exemplary lives of holiness amongst them? Now, we
do not need to don the exquisite dress of a High priest to do this job, rather our hearts
need to be clothed with love and compassion for those trekking into Christ less eternity.
That’s all needs to be done on the dress code front to be a Christian High Priest for then
our intercessory prayers’ for the salvation of our unsaved friends/kith and Kin/office colleagues/school
mates/business associates’ would naturally be passionate and fervent! Lets have a sincere reality
check, as to whether our present life with its priorities is in line with the 'High calling'
that goes with being labeled a Christian.
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Prayer:
Father, we confess that we are sometimes oblivious to the priorities of our high calling.
We pray that the love You have for all the unsaved ones’ around us would be in our hearts too,
so that we would intercede with You fervently for their salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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