…. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance. (Exodus 28:12b) When you think about the conceptual significance of wearing engraved gemstones on one’s shoulder’s while serving in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle, you have to starting asking why? You ask “why” because if you read it, you are tempted to believe that this act of wearing engraved gemstones on one’s shoulders is some type of ancient religious ritual. Then you read it again, and you notice that the priest is not wearing gemstones that are simply engraved, but gemstones with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel engraved. For better or worse, these 12 tribes are the people who he is stuck with. Whom he traveled with. Whom he will share his life with. He wears those names on his shoulders in an act of carrying them before God as he serves his duties before God. It is before God’s that these people are remembered. They had to be carried there on the priest’s shoulders because otherwise he may forget the people he comes from and lives with while performing his duties. But when he looks left or right, he sees his people, on his shoulders, who need to be carried before God. Here is the implication of all that: we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 emphasis mine). We are priests that need to carry the names of our people (our social circles) before God in everything we do. We have to carry them even if they are not the people we wanted. Our priestly duty is to lift them up before our God through our service to Him and remember that these are God’s people and that they are also our own. Let’s pray to do that today. Write on the prayer wall about who you would like to lift up on your shoulders before our amazing God.