4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
I just love how the Bible calls us "God's special possession" :)
ReplyDeleteI love that too Olivia! Verse nine is one of my favorite verses in this section! " But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." Much like Israel was God's chosen nation in the Old Testament. We are His chosen people! Not only are we chosen by Him, and loved by Him, but because we belong to Him, we can declare praise of Him! Think about how many times God does wonderful things in our lives, and we get the opportunity to praise Him for it, and draw attention to His greatness! I don't think any one of us regrets stepping out of darkness to see God's marvelous light!!!!
DeleteVerse 11-12 stuck out to me. They tell us to live apart from the world. This stuck out to me particularly because of the fact that I go to public school. There is so much darkness and worldliness at public school, and sometimes it is so easy to just sit back and watch it happen, or even slip into it yourself. But God has called us to something more, to share the light we have found in Christ with those around us. It may be harder sometimes to live a life apart from the world, especially when we are living in such close quarters with people who never give God a second thought. But it is our calling, and living for God and with God is TRUE living, which is better than ANYTHING the world can give you.
ReplyDeleteI love verse 9. God has chosen us to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. We are special to Him. The responsibility we have because of this calling is to declare His praises. He has called us our of darkness into His light, and we must give Him the honor and glory He deserves because of that! But our relationship with Him is so special- we're His treasured possession!
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