A people of God
The apostle Peter writes,
"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.
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.
Dear friends,
I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
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." 1 Peter 2:9-12.
This section of scripture resonates with me. You see for most of my adult life I have lived in a country that is not the one in which I was born. I am a landed immigrant legally allowed to live here. That being said I am an alien in the country in which I choose to live.
I know that I must obey the laws of the land in which I live. Failure to do so would mean my being sent back to the land of my birth.
This is what Peter here is saying. As Christians. Believers in Christ Jesus. We are strangers in the country in which we live. As such we must obey the laws of that land. We must “abstain from sinful desires”.
We must live such good lives among the people of the country in which we live. So that even though they may accuse us of doing wrong. “They may see our good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us”.
If you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus. Do you live a good life? When people see you do they see a good person. One who truly represents Christ?
When people see you do they see Christ within you?
Please think about it.
