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Pinch Pot Priests

By Zach Neese 

I was supposed to be writing this devotion today. Deadline looming, I was feeling the pressure of the clock when I heard a sweet little voice behind me, “Daddy, will you play with me?” This explains how I ended up with clay all the way to my elbows, making pinch pots and Barbie plates in the backyard with my daughter Nora. “Daddy, I’m hungry” led to sandwiches with my son Sam and an intriguing conversation about the relative merits of certain Lego sets. “Daddy, I threw up four times” put me on the couch beside my daughter Judah, then at the doctor’s office, then the pharmacy, and finally on my knees praying for her as she slept fitfully on the couch.

Each of these statements is like a little prayer, a simple expression of my children’s needs. Each looked like a detour from my “mission” but was in fact a gift that allowed me to connect with my kids. When you connect with people, you also minister God’s love to them. You connect heaven and earth, which is our true calling.

This calling to minister and connect is as old as humanity. Adam was created to connect God and creation. Walking with God, Adam ministered to His great, expansive heart. Then, walking in the garden, Adam ministered to the world God entrusted him with. As long as Adam ministered to God and creation, earth was a paradise in perfect relationship with God.

Of course, Adam fell and Jesus was born to carry the calling. Jesus’ life was spent in continuous connection with His Father and connecting with hurting people—ministering to their diseases and heartaches. Ultimately, He shed His own blood to heal and seal the broken relationship between heaven and earth. Jesus is the living connection between the two.

The Bible calls this ministry the priesthood, and it is the honor of every believer to: connect with God, connect with people, and connect the two to each other. It doesn’t require a master of divinity degree, and you’ve already been ordained by God Himself. You are called to steward the relationship between God and people. And so am I.

So excuse me, but I’ve got some priestly business to attend to. It’s bedtime and I have six kids to pray with. That may sound like a mundane mission, but it is my greatest privilege to minister to their hearts and teach them to minister to God’s heart—to steward their growing relationships with their heavenly Father. Pinch pots and prayers, sandwiches and doctor visits, Legos and consistent kindness—the details of life are the sacraments of our priesthood.

Prayer

Father, thank You for reminding me that I am both Your child and a priest. Stay close to me today and show me how I can minister to Your heart. Give me opportunities to connect with people and to minister Your love to them—even in the mundane routines of life. As I do these two things, I pray that through Your Son, Jesus, You would connect every one of those people to Yourself. Now guide me to carry Your love and Your presence into my world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

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. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)