Revelation 1:6

This verse comes from the book of Revelation, written by the apostle John while he was exiled on the island of Patmos around 90 AD. He is writing to seven churches in what is now western Turkey, and opens with a declaration about what Jesus has already done. In ancient Israel, the role of priest — a mediator who offered sacrifices and stood between the people and God — was strictly reserved for men from the tribe of Levi. John declares that Jesus has broken that exclusivity: every believer is now a priest with direct access to God. The language echoes Exodus 19:6, where God described what Israel was originally called to be. The verse ends with a short, spontaneous burst of worship called a doxology.

Jesus, thank You for making me something I could never earn — a priest before God, with full access to You. When I feel distant or disqualified, remind me that You have already torn down every wall. Teach me to walk into Your presence like I truly belong there. Amen.

Imagine being handed the keys to a place you were never supposed to enter. In the ancient Temple, there were strict zones — outer courts for non-Jews, inner courts for Israel, and then the Holy of Holies, where only one man could go, once a year, after elaborate ritual preparation. An ornate curtain kept everyone else out. Then Jesus died, and the Gospel accounts say that curtain tore in two, from top to bottom, as if something enormous was being thrown open. And here, John makes it explicit: every believer is now a priest. Not a spectator in the outer court. A priest. That identity is easy to recite and hard to believe on a flat Wednesday afternoon when prayer feels like talking to a ceiling. But this verse doesn't describe how you feel — it describes what you are. Jesus 'has made' you this — past tense, settled, done — not because you earned it, but because He did. The next time you hesitate to approach God, feeling too ordinary or too far gone, remember: you are not waiting for clearance. You already have it.