Revelation 1:5b-6 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

1 Peter 2:5 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 

We are loved by Jesus and through his blood he has freed us from our sins and made us priests to serve God. Our royal priesthood comes through the love of Christ that has made us citizens of a holy nation. We need to see that he first loved us and then he washed us and then he made us to be priests.

Being a priest means we have direct access to God. We do not have to hesitate and wonder if my praise and worship is accepted or not. In the Old Testament, only the tribe of Levi was chosen to serve as priests and everyone else had to offer their worship through the priests. Even among the priests only the high priest could enter the most holy place beyond the inner curtain to offer sacrifice once a year. (Hebrews 9:7) Now Jesus is our high priest and we are the priests who through Jesus can have a personal and close relationship with our Father. There are no more barriers or curtains (Matthew 27:51). God came close to us through Jesus and now we can forever declare his praises.

So today…as you enter the presence of our almighty God, be amazed at how Jesus through his ultimate loving sacrifice has made it possible for us to approach the father so confidently and so personally (Hebrews 4:14-16). Be wonderstruck by how you are part of the spiritual house and also the priests commissioned to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise (1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 13:15).