I often think about 1 Peter 2:9 and our new job as being part of the “royal priesthood.” Sometimes I tell myself to live like a Levite–the people described as part of the priesthood in the Bible.
I remember the struggle in my heart when my husband and I first served as missionaries for Cru. Raising support and living an entirely different kind of life seemed so odd, so countercultural, and so difficult.
My friend told me to see myself like a Levite and part of a priesthood (best described in the book of Numbers) who had no inheritance but would forever rely on the Lord and the tithes of the people. That helped me understand a different way to live: Just as the Lord would be the Levites’ treasured possession—not land, wealth, promised inheritances, or any of the normal things one might accumulate in life–I could live a different way with God’s strength. The Lord Himself was everything to the Levites; I wanted to live like a Levite.
I often think about this special category of people because, in Christ, we are all now part of this royal priesthood of people. We’ve been given a new designation in Christ, but what does it mean? Are we to think of living more like Levites?
When Peter wrote that we are part of this new, royal priesthood, I imagine that the readers would understand a new, countercultural way of living. Levites lived lives of dependence, trust, worship, and devotion. They prayed, they helped others learn God’s word, they blessed, and they enabled others to worship. They held possessions loosely. They had no earthly inheritance. The Lord was their inheritance. It never seems sad or unfortunate when you read about the Levites in the Bible. Instead, you sense the honor of it all and how they Levites received the best portion of everything. They had nothing but possessed all.
I remember to live like a Levite today.