Those chosen first for an athletic team generally carry the weight of the team on their shoulders. As we see in college and professional sports, the best players are often arrogant individualists, proclaiming their own excellence.  The same could be said for religious leaders in Jesus’ day and in our day – they sought/seek to proclaim their excellence to Jesus, their creator and redeemer. Peter calls believers to a different way of thinking:

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. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:9-11

We are the chosen people of God, a people for his own possession in order that we would proclaim his excellencies! Being chosen by God did not/does not come from what we do – God wants all people to be saved and know his mercy.  Being chosen by God rests in his mercy, his grace, his love, his holiness, his righteousness, and his desire to be surrounded by people he has made holy for himself.

The war that is waged against our soul keeps us from being free to receive his mercy in our own hearts. We may feel undeserving. We feel unholy, unrighteous, or unlovable. We cannot comprehend that grace and mercy are for us. Or, on the other hand, in and of ourselves we may feel very deserving. We feel holy, righteous or loveable. We proclaim ourselves as deserving of grace and mercy. Both are self centered ways of thinking and wage war on our soul. Neither way of thinking reflects Peter’s words, God’s word.

Peter’s letter is filled with life and with the proclamation of the living and abiding word of God living in us. The Living One who chose us in himself is a giver – a life giver, a love giver, a mercy giver. The Living One who chose us in himself is a healer, a creator, a sustainer and a redeemer. No one is deserving of the choosing; the choosing has been done by the one who didn’t deserve to be mocked or beaten or crucified. Christ has suffered and died to buy us with his holy precious blood.

His resurrection gives us a living hope. His perfect life, which is our life, gives us something to proclaim – his excellence. We are called to allow that Living Word to strike our heart and soul. We are called to receive his mercy, love, grace, forgiveness and healing into our lives. We are called to put away the war that wages against our soul and allow the Living Word to permeate our being and our doing. The Living Hope to whom we have been called is faithful, he will do it.

May God grant us courage to live as his chosen people. May God grant us courage to proclaim his excellence. May his peace guard our hearts, souls and lives in him. Blessings IN Christ, Cindy

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