Follow Your Priest-King
Be inspired from one of the most cited Old Testament passages to faithfully follow your Priest-King.
Dad was tired of hearing his son complain about what his friends had and he did not have. Dad had an idea: set a higher standard for his son. The next time his son began his complaining, the father stopped him: “Is this what Jesus would do? Would Jesus complain about the clothes he had and want to wear the same thing your friends are wearing? Is it so important that you wear just what your friends are wearing? Why can’t you be more like Jesus?”
The son waited for his father to catch his breath and then interrupted, “All right, Dad, I give up; just tell me what Jesus is wearing, and I’ll wear it too!”
I think of David Livingstone, the pioneer missionary to Africa, who walked over 29,000 miles. His wife died early in their ministry and he faced stiff opposition from his Scottish brethren. He ministered half blind. His kind of perseverance spurs me on. As I run, I remember the words in his diary: Send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from any tie but the tie that binds me to Your service and to Your heart.
Joseph Stowell, Through The Fire, Victor Books, 1988, p. 150
God spoke to God. (vs. 1)
This same verse cited in the NT helps us see a number of things of Christ:
Identity of Christ (Acts 2:32-35)
Superiority of Christ (Hebrews 1:13-14)
Finished work of Christ (Hebrews 10:12-13)
Declaration of Christ (Matthew 26:63-66)
Deity of Christ (Matthew 22:41-46)
1) See Jesus as Lord.
A Colorado native moved to Texas and built a house with a large picture window from which he could view hundreds of miles of rangeland. “The only problem is,” he said, “there’s nothing to see.”
About the same time, a Texan moved to Colorado and built a house with a large picture window overlooking the Rocky Mountains. “The only problem is I can’t see anything,” he said. “The mountains are in the way.”
People have a way of missing what is right before them.
God will send the Messiah to rule as King with His willing people. (vs. 2-3)
2) Be a willing servant.
God will fulfill His oath of an eternal Priest and King through the Messiah. (vs. 4)
3) Go to your High Priest.
God declares the victory. (vs. 4-7)
One night at a basketball banquet the president of a junior college was congratulating the coach and the team profusely. The beaming coach asked the president, “Would you still like me as much if we didn’t win?”
“I’d like you as much,” the president replied. “I’d just miss having you around.”
4) Rejoice in the declared victory.
5) Seek things that matter where Christ is now. (Colossians 3:1)
The place was Bethel, Vermont, nestled in the vast expanse of the Green Mountains. It was a hot day, a perfect day for a walk to enjoy the view of the river and the surrounding mountains. My trail was the railroad tracks that seemed to endlessly imitate the direction of the river.
By the tracks stood an old mill that was being converted into some kind of a workshop. From my vantage point on the tracks, I could see a stop sign on one of the windows of the shop. No doubt it said, “NO TRESPASSING!” but I had to check it out just to make sure.
I was right. But the sign said a lot more than I had expected. There in black and white on that dusty window were these words:
“Trespassers will be shot;
Survivors will be shot again.”
Without letting on how I felt at that point, I glanced over my shoulders and scouted the bush and the riverbank for signs of life, particularly property owners who carried loaded guns. I rapidly came to the conclusion that I did not belong in that place, that I was passing through. I kept moving!
Sometimes (maybe more than we would like to admit) we find ourselves preoccupied with the beauty of the world around us, including those things that may attract our attention, saying to us, “Come and see what I am all about.”
Often in the midst of the beautiful and the interesting, there lies the quiet, yet very real, warning of danger. We need to keep moving!
The apostle Peter no doubt had this in mind when he reminded his readers that they were only “aliens and strangers” here on earth. The apostle Paul shared this concern as he prompted the Philippians to remember that their “citizenship is in heaven.”
As we walk where God has placed us, may we walk while enjoying the beauty, avoiding the dangers, seeking our promised home, and all the while pressing on, heeding the call that says, KEEP MOVING!
6) Look to Jesus, and follow His lead. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
I think of David Livingstone, the pioneer missionary to Africa, who walked over 29,000 miles. His wife died early in their ministry and he faced stiff opposition from his Scottish brethren. He ministered half blind. His kind of perseverance spurs me on. As I run, I remember the words in his diary: Send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from any tie but the tie that binds me to Your service and to Your heart.
Joseph Stowell, Through The Fire, Victor Books, 1988, p. 150