A priest serves as a mediator between the people and God. He has the very privileged role of offering sacrifices on behalf of the people. Leviticus 6:8-23 focuses on the duty and responsibility of the priests.

1.  Their service is a continuous service (Lev 6:8-13): The fire of the burnt offering upon the altar is a never-ending fire (Lev 6:10-13). The priests ensure that the fire is kept burning upon the altar. Morning and night the priests maintain the fire upon the altar by replacing the wood for burning. The altar of the Lord in the Tabernacle represents the atonement of sin. Hence the fire burning on the altar represents that there is always a provision for the atonement of sin.

We must always remember the atonement that has been accomplished and fulfilled for us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thus, we must not hide the Gospel, but always make it available to unbelievers.

2.  Their service is a holy service (Lev 6:14-18): As the Lord gave the law of the meat offering, He also instructed that “the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat” (Lev 6:16). And Leviticus 6:18 says, “… It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.” This means that before the priests can touch the offerings, they must first be holy. Holiness is the condition for the touching of the offering. Hence, all the priests of the Lord are to be holy, and they are to serve with holiness.

As Christians, we are to be holy in all that we do. We must not corrupt the worship and service of God by bringing in sin and worldliness. God has given us His principles and guidelines in the Bible as to how we are to worship Him and how we are to live for Him. Thus, we must obey Him.

3.  Their service is a consecrated service (Lev 6:19-23): Leviticus 6:20 talks about the offering on the day the priest is “anointed,”e. the priest is to be consecrated unto the Lord on the day of his anointment. The verse also specified the offering as “…the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.” This seems to suggest that the priest’s consecration is from the beginning of his ministry to the end of his ministry, i.e. his service as a priest is a consecrated service.

In serving God, we must start well, be faithful, and end well in the Lord. We must constantly remind ourselves by the daily consecration of our lives to God.