Have you considered the Priesthood?

I saw a billboard the other day driving that said, “Have you considered the priesthood?” Apparently, the Catholic church is in need of clergy. I looked it up and also found that the year of priests ended for the Catholic church on June 19, 2o10 (see this article: http://tinyurl.com/2cc33d7). This is not intended to bash the Catholic church, but it got me thinking that it is a shame they stopped. Every year in the church should be about equipping the priests. Not the Catholic kind, but the royal kind…you know, the kind of priest the New Testament uses to refer to all believers. Every Christian is a priest; we do not need a year of priests. Our ministries should be made up of priests (that’s you) who have the same access to our Lord that every pastor and elder does. Peter wrote in his first letter, “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.” (1 Peter 2:9). All of God’s people are able to do God’s work (that is what a priest does); I am encouraged that at my church we have an army of priests doing God’s work. Continue to press on in ministry because you are a priest, called to do God’s work. And if you see that billboard, you already know the answer to the question.

“And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Exodus 19:6