For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:24-26

Every Monday morning, I awake thinking of my duties. It is my cleaning day, so that checklist runs through my mind. But it is also the start of another week—with school days, extra-curriculars, meals to plan, etc.

Mondays sometimes[for me] feel a little daunting. There are times when I wake up physically and emotionally drained before the week has even started!

Webster’s defines duty this way: something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.

Hebrews 9 gives us a glimpse into the regular duties of the high priest in the Old Testament context. He was responsible for everything from supervising daily morning and evening sacrifices, discerning the will of God for the people and even maintaining the Temple. He inherited this duty and held it for life.

Annually(and arguably most importantly) he was required to go on Yom Kippur(the Day of Atonement) behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, where he sprinkled the blood taken from the sacrifice(made on behalf of himself and of the people) on the Mercy Seat. In this way, he atoned for the sins of the previous year.

As I considered my own duties this morning, I couldn’t help but marvel at the kindness of Christ.

For believers, he is our foremost High Priest. Unlike the priests of the Old Testament, he assumed this role willingly, on behalf of those he foreknew and predestined to be His(Romans 8:29). He did not come due to moral or legal obligation, nor did he come because he was expected to by the Father. He came out of His kindness and love(Titus 3).

And while the high priest offered annually for the sins of the people, this better High Priest offered his own life once and for all, to put away sin that his people might be redeemed.

It was not his duty, yet He came. He lived among us, suffered horribly and humbly, and died alone. And this changes everything.

So, while my actual duties threatened to overwhelm me before the day’s beginning, this was a needed perspective shift.

I can perform my duties(however menial and insignificant they feel at times) to the glory of God, in freedom because of the One who assumed the highest duty voluntarily on my behalf.

May the Holy Scriptures govern every part of our lives, and regulate the discharge of all our duties so that we may adorn thy doctrine in all things Valley of Vision