1 Peter 2:9 - Chosen

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Peter turns cheerleader in this wonderful verse. I can almost hear him preaching these words; getting more excited as he goes along. You are a CHOSEN people, a royal PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, a PEOPLE…BELONGING…TO GOD! Can I get an amen!? Look at all the amazing things that you are:

- You are chosen.
- You are royalty.
- You are a priest.
- You are holy.
- You are part of a nation and a people.
- You belong to God.

Notice how inclusive these phrases are. Peter is writing to people who feel separate and scattered because of persecution. These words must have hit them like a blast of fresh air. Despite their persecution, they were royalty. Despite being separate and scattered, they were part of a holy nation. Despite their loneliness, they were chosen and belonged to God. What comfort these words must have brought to Peter’s early audience.

What about Peter’s audience today? Do these words bring you comfort? Peace? Joy? Perhaps you feel lonely, or scattered, or persecuted. Allow these words to wash over you like a cool shower on the hottest day of the year. They are eternal truths that will sustain you despite your circumstances. I love this verse!

On a different note, I wonder if the early Christians struggled with their purpose as much as we do today. Perhaps they did because Peter brings it up all the time. He reminds us in this passage that our job is to declare the praises of God – the God who has called us out of the darkness and into the light. How are you doing with that? Do you declare God’s praises through your words and deeds? Do your friends know that you belong to Christ by the way you talk, the things you do, the things you don’t do, and the way you love them?

If not, then maybe you are still fumbling around in the dark. Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean that you are walking in God’s light – you may have accepted Christ, but you have to continually choose to follow, and obey, Him. It’s hard to sing the praises of God’s wonderful light when you’re in the darkness.

Would you say that you are walking in God’s light, or have you wandered off in the dark? It’s a question worth asking…

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness.” – 1 John 1:5