1 Peter 2 - part one

Hmmm..... did you know that 1 Peter 2 has more in it than my favourite verses? I know, seems a silly thing to notice this morning. But most of the time, when I think of this passage, I only think of verses 9 and 10 which in many ways have become "MY" verses of the bible.

9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

I just love these verses. They always remind me of who I am, whose I am, and what I am to be.

• a chosen race - I am a person who is chosen by God, I am part of a chosen people. That means I am NOT alone in life. That God has a purpose for me. I, being a person, who is often befret by worries that I make no difference in the world. That what I do really doesn't matter to anyone, and that what I do is usually wrong anyways. But in God's eyes, he chose me! That means that I do make a difference. :)
  
• a royal priesthood - Not only that but I am a royal priestess. I have a job! I have something to do for God. Man, that always lifts my spirits.
  
• a holy nation - I am a holy person. God sees me as part of a holy nation. That means I'm not a complete scuz-bucket. There is hope for me, in God, because only through him can I live out WHAT I am... a holy person, part of a holy nation. (see once again, I'm not alone in this). I belong to God.
• a people for his own possession - I belong to God. I am HIS possession. That means I have merit. You don't possess things that mean nothing to you. If you have something that means nothing to you, you get rid of it. But I am a person that God possesses. :)
• that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light - Why? So that I can proclaim God. That I can proclaim all the great and wonderful and marvellous things of the God that I work for, belong to, am possessed by, the one who makes me holy. God took me out of this dark nasty place, and brought me into his light. This clean bright place of hope, and mercy, and peace. He gave me reason to be, to live, to just oh...to have a purpose. :) God gave me purpose!
• Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people - Once, I was not part of a people group. Once, I was all alone, having no one, but then God called me out of what I was, of where I was, and made me part of his people. I am part of the family of God. That means that somewhere, regardless of where I am, there I am always with a people that I belong. God has called people to him from every race and tribe (okay, well there I might not be totally accurate, I know that mission work still continues among tribes and peoples who have not heard yet of God, and there is MUCH mission work that needs to continue so that the Lord might one day return). But generally speaking....I will not stop being part of a larger family....the family of God. It's just TOO cool.
  
• once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy - At one point in life no mercy was shown to me. I was stuck in this dark place. But then God showed me mercy. he called me to himself. He showed me how all those lessons I had learned as a child belonged to me. That was called to be his, and his alone. WooHoo!!!! God's mercy found me. Life is good. My prayer is that others will be called to find this mercy as well.

Wow...you know what? I started this entry thinking I'd talk about more than my favourite verses, but then I got stuck on them. :) I'll post all the rest of this chapter in another post.

People who read this....if you don't know God, take a moment to really read these verses. See the potential in them for YOU. Know God. Know his mercy. Life will be changed for you in ways that you can't even imagine right now. And I'll be able to call you family...and that will be SO cool.