But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people chosen for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2: 9

 

Knowing Christ changes everything. He makes us over into people who are truly special, for we are chosen by God. In our acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord we submit the direction and the outworking of our lives to God’s will and commit to live under the authority of His righteousness. So, when we submit to Christ, God chooses to pour out His grace upon us and adopt us as His beloved children. When this happens our primary citizenship is no longer defined by a nation, state, or city. Our principle occupation is now sacred and no longer secular. Power, position, possessions, and might should no longer drive us; rather, we are to be humbly submitted to service to the King.

 

In Christ we have sacred duties to perform. We serve at the alter in God’s temple. This is demanding duty for this temple is never closed and it is actively seeking new adherents to the faith. As priests who serve Christ our daily activities form an important part of the liturgy of this holy place. For God, rather than establishing a fixed place for His dwelling on earth, has established Himself within each and every one of us who follow Christ. We are that righteous place of worship that starving and desperate people can come to in order to find the peace, restoration, and loving truth that is God’s living word of grace.

 

This service to Christ requires us to open our hands and our hearts to people of all human descriptions without regard for how much discomfort they may cause us to feel. We are granted the great privilege of following Jesus by touching the soiled faces of this world’s people with the cleansing water of Christ’s baptism of light. This is honorable work. It is a holy endeavor that only God’s chosen are empowered to do. This is the calling that Christ lays upon the hearts and the minds of His people.