A Royal Family
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9
I am starting to pray this verse for my family and the church (body of believers) as the family of God. If we ever get a revelation of who we really are in Christ Jesus, this country and world for that matter, would look a lot different. A chosen generation? A royal priesthood? A holy nation and God’s own special people? We are God’s people and we are special to Him! He sent Jesus to buy us back from the clutches of the world so we can live life as overcoming children of God just as He originally made us in the beginning at creation.
So why do we still look so much like the world? We talk like the world, criticizing, and complaining. We are entertained by the things the world is entertained by and we even eat and drink like the world. In Exodus we can read about the Israelites being led out of captivity into the wilderness. But when they got there, they were still practicing some of the wicked ways of the Egyptians (the world). That’s when God began to teach them how to live above the world’s standard, but time and time again, the nation of Israel continued to fall into their worldly sinful ways and they were forced to pay the consequences as a result of their choices.
So, let’s take a minute to think about being royalty. What does that even look like? The only reference I have is from TV or even watching the “royal” family headlines. However, imagine that you are royalty and how would your life be different and separated from the world? First of all, royalty almost always has more than enough money. As far as I can tell they never consider it and definitely are not preoccupied with it. Money is a tool that gets them the things they need and want in life. Secondly, they don’t interact a lot with the outside world because of security reasons, and mostly because they don’t do the things that common people do. Lastly, they have a higher standard of modesty, manners, and education. Royalty exists for the people, but they live above the public because of their political position.
This scripture says we are a royal priesthood. What we know about the priesthood in the Old Testament is that they were set apart from the rest of the nation. They did different things than everyone else, and they were held to a higher standard. 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” God calls us out to be different, not because He is trying to keep good things from us that the world has to offer. On the contrary, His desire is to give us the very best of all He has. That’s why He gave us Jesus so we could have things like divine protection, health, and direction. He knows that we can live a better life by not being loaded down with the cares, weights, and distractions that the world has to offer. In this way we are an example to the world of what being part of God’s family is really like and the joy and peace that is only available by living a separated, child of God life.
Today I want to encourage you to examine your own life. Take a deep look into your heart to see if there is any part of the world that is holding you captive. Set a higher standard for yourself to walk out the path of righteousness that God has planned for you and then ask Him for the grace to do it. Even though God wants the best for us, He will not force it on us. God gave us the choice. We can choose the path of the world that is leading to destruction or the path of life leading to blessing. So, choose God and His ways today.
Today’s scripture reading: 1 Peter 2:9-10
The Daily Dose 