Free to Serve
When Christ brings wholeness, we become an open door through which others encounter His freedom.
Based on today’s Immeasurably More devotional
Photo credit: Unsplash
In today’s reflection from Immeasurably More, we encounter a rich picture of identity and purpose drawn from the Old Testament priesthood. Leviticus 21:6a speaks to the requirement for priests to be holy—not in the distorted sense of somber religious piety, but in the life-giving sense of wholeness.
The devotion draws a sharp but liberating distinction: priests were born into their role by birth, not earned merit. Similarly, we who are born again in Christ are priests by spiritual birthright, not by effort or aspiration. However, the ability to serve as priests—to minister the life of Christ to others—depends on the manifestation of that holiness in our own experience.
Holiness, then, is not a grim badge of achievement. It is healing. It is the life of Christ expressing wholeness in a particular area of our lives. To minister to others in the joy of Christ, we must first have appropriated His joy ourselves. To lift someone from the mire, we must first know the solid ground ourselves. Not that we are perfectly whole in every part—but in the area where we serve, we must have experienced Christ’s deliverance firsthand. The life that ministers is the life that has already been made alive in Christ in that very realm.
This is not a call to clean ourselves up before serving. It is an invitation to rest in Christ’s redemption so completely in a specific area that we become vessels through whom that liberty flows freely. We don’t deliver anyone through effort; we participate in Christ’s ongoing deliverance as we let Him express His indwelling life through us. In short, we are free to serve when we are free indeed.
Journal Entry — In the Voice of the Holy Spirit:
You are Mine by birth, born of imperishable seed through the living and enduring Word. I chose you to be a royal priesthood, not by your striving, but by your union with My Son. Just as Aaron’s sons did not choose to become priests, neither did you choose this identity. I appointed it by My mercy.
Yet in this priesthood, not all serve alike. To serve is not to perform, but to reveal Me—to let the freedom I have worked in you become a doorway for others to enter. When I have brought healing to a wound, you carry My balm. When joy has replaced your despair, your laughter echoes My victory. When you walk through fire and come out radiant, it is not you who speak—it is I who speak through the flame-tested peace.
You are not expected to be whole in every area, but in the place where I have made you whole, walk boldly. That place is your platform of priestly service. From that wholeness, you proclaim freedom for the captives. The words you speak are not advice, but testimony to the life you now share with Me. The joy I have poured into your soul is the same joy that now overflows into the dry ground around you.
I sanctify you by My indwelling life. I qualify you to serve through the very liberty I have brought you into. I am your High Priest, and you serve in Me. Live, therefore, as one already whole in the place I’ve touched, and let others glimpse the Redeemer in your rejoicing.
Scripture references: 1 Peter 1:23, 1 Peter 2:9, John 15:16, Luke 4:18, 2 Corinthians 1:4, Hebrews 2:11, Galatians 5:1, 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
Prayer:
Father, thank You that I am not working toward an identity—I’m living from the one You’ve already given me in Christ. I am a priest not because I earned it, but because I was born again into Your royal family. And how freeing it is to know that I don’t have to fake wholeness. I don’t need to pretend mastery over every part of life. But in the places where You’ve made me whole, where Your joy has replaced mourning, I know I can stand in quiet confidence and say, “This is the Lord’s doing.”
May I never forget that ministry is not about offering myself—but offering Christ who lives in me. I trust You to reveal where You’ve already brought liberty, so I can walk there in peace and point others to the freedom found in You. You’ve already qualified me. I simply yield. What a joy it is to be free to serve—because I am free indeed.