Spiritual Praises of the Holy
Our Job – Part 4
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:9-12
Key Verse: 1 Peter 2:9
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
Peter reminds us of one more aspect of this job that God gives His people: We belong to Him! Once we join God’s family by our faith in Jesus Christ, we no longer have any other identity; we are a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9). If you take a moment and look at the opening verses of the New Testament books, you’ll find that most of those writing these books identified themselves as servants or “slaves of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
How do you identify yourself? Have you become a servant—a slave of God? Do you see yourself as totally belonging to God? Down through the ages God’s people have understood that they leave their self-centered lifestyle and become a God-centered person, belonging totally to Him! John Wesley, an 18th Century Methodist preacher and leader, started his famous Covenant Prayer with the words: “I am no longer my own, I am yours.”
The American lifestyle is a very self-focused and independent one. There seems to be an attitude of entitlement—we deserve to be catered to. But when we come to Jesus, we give all that up and become servants; no longer is life all about me! We accept the Apostle Peter’s description of “a people belonging to God” as our own identity!
Father, I am not my own—I am yours! Use me as you see fit and take me to the people you want me to serve. In Jesus’ name, amen.