Peculiar

Peculiar I'm going old school on you this time and going with the King James Version of the scriptures. Some scriptures sound better in the old english language. This particular scripture was a favorite of the pastor of my old home church. He quoted it often and it stuck with me. Now, a few years later, it struck me to write about it. Here we go. I hope you enjoy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (King James Version) 9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 10Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Are you a peculiar person? Are you a part of a chosen generation, a holy nation? Are you a member of a royal priesthood? These may seem like crazy questions at first, but when you dig into the scriptures, they make sense. First of all, what does it mean to be peculiar? It doesn't exactly sound like a compliment does it? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as:1 characteristic of only one person, group, or thing : or 2 different from the usual or normal. So, is it a good thing to be 'peculiar'? Let's look at it like this. The first definition says it's a characteristic of only one person or group. When that one person is our God in the flesh, Jesus Christ and that group is the body of Christ, it's absolutely a 'good' thing. If you are peculiar in this manner, it means that your faith is showing through in your actions and in your works without even having to verbally proclaim that you are a Christian. That indeed is a good thing. The second definition is different from the usual or normal. Think of how our culture works today and what it values. You are considered successful if you have attained great material wealth. You're successful if you have a nice house, new car or cars, and a fat bank account and it doesn't matter who you had to double-cross or run over to get there. Often times you are even praised for being good at deceitful, calculating, and merciless actions in business and in life. Would being considered unusual be a wonderful compliment in this instance? Wouldn't it be great to be seen as a 'good' person, instead of ruthless? Wouldn't it be wonderful to be seen as 'one of those Christians' instead of being normal? About being a chosen generation or a holy nation; what does that mean? Again, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines chosen as : one who is the object of choice or of divine favor : an elect person. That sounds like a wonderful thing to be; chosen! When we take Christ into our hearts, we become a chosen people. We become joint heirs in the heavenly inheritance. We become God's chosen people. So, this is a question you must ask yourself. Am I part of a chosen generation? This make take a bit of self examination. Are you trying to live a holy life? That's the main part of being a chosen person. It means you are trying to live a Christlike life. It doesn't mean we are perfect, since Christ was the only one to ever walk the earth who was perfect, but it means we are striving toward that life. We are only human afterall and we will make mistakes and fall short of that perfection we are growing toward. That doesn't mean that we can live an openly sinful life, say empty prayers of forgiveness, and go on like nothing is wrong. It does mean that we will make mistaked from time to time and if we are truly trying to live a godly life, we will feel conviction in our heart for it and honestly pray for forgiveness. That is what being a chosen generation and a holy nation means. We strive toward a godly life and feel the conviction in our hearts when we fall short of the goal. We continue to 'fight the good fight' against our own sin and the sin of the world around us. Finally, are you a part of a royal priesthood? Wait a minute. You didn't attend divinity school or a seminary. You didn't go through and training or ordainment ceremony. That may be true, but as a Christian, you have become a part of a royal priesthood. You see, in the Levitical priesthood, God gave Moses intrsuctions for ordaining Aaron and his sons to be His priests. Moses was told how they should conduct themselves, how to conduct the rituals in the tabernacle, how they were to dress, how the were to ritually wash, and how to prepare the oils to annoint the heads of the chosen priests. These preists were to be the nation of Israel's conduits to God. They were to offer sacrifices to the Lord and speak to the Lord on Israel's behalf. Remember when Jesus said that He came not to destroy the Levitical law, but to fulfill it? When Jesus came, so did baptism through water. When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts and are baptised in His name, we are annointed as His priests and as for the offerings the priests gave to God, Jesus has covered that as well with His own blood that he gave on our behalf. We are given the right to pray and lift our worries and our joys up directly to our Lord as the Levitical priethood did in ancient times. This doesn't mean that we can just step up on the pulpit at our local church and begin preaching our view of the gospel, but it does mean that we have the right and the responsibility to witness the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone in our lives. We are a royal priesthood because we are preaching the gospel of our King, our Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer to the masses. In closing, I may have given you more questions than I have answered, but that's not a bad thing. From time to time, we need to ask ourselves the tough questions and take note of where we are in our walk with God. I pray that this writing has stirred something inside of you and helped you in some way. God bless you my friends. Pete 5-23-11