A chosen people, a royal priesthood

The human heart longs for acceptance, significance, to be loved and known. All around us, we see the lengths people will go to in order to satisfy these longings. Whether it's searching for acceptance in relationships, ambitiously climbing a career ladder in the hopes of being perceived as significant, or promoting the highlight reels of our lives on social media. There are countless ways that we try to satisfy our deepest longings.

For followers of Christ, this passage is a good reminder that we find our belonging and acceptance in Christ. We are chosen and special. This is a truth worth savouring.

But it goes beyond our longing to be accepted. Peter also talks about us being a "royal priesthood" and a "holy nation." The Jewish Christian audience, for whom Peter was writing, would have understood these references as they had cultural significance.

Simply put, to be royal is to be part of God's Kingdom. We are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and rulers with him (Revelation 5:10). The role of a priest was to mediate between the people and God. In the Old Testament the Jewish people were holy in that they were set apart. They didn't live like the rest of the world but had a set of rules and behaviours that kept them safe.

As followers of Christ, we are all called to be part of the King's work in bringing people to God and living lives that are set apart from the world around us.

How do we do it? We declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his glorious light. We tell everyone that; once we were rejected but now we have been chosen; once we were separate from God but now we are now part of his family; once we lacked purpose and meaning but now we have a reason to live. We tell everyone that they can be part of the story line too.

So yes, we are chosen and special. We have significance as part of God's family. But this status is not given to us just so that we feel better about ourselves. As followers of Christ, in His Kingdom, each one of us are to carry on the work of the King by bringing people to God and sharing the testimony of what he has done for us.

- Bethany Milne