Peter goes on to say, “Once you were not a people.” Most of us have experienced a time in our lives when we were left out—not invited to the party, not chosen for the team, left out of a trip, not chosen for a job, sat at home during prom, emails and phone calls not returned.
Most of these situations are annoying but not overly serious when you consider your entire life. New opportunities present themselves. Your mother was right when she said, “There are more fish in the sea!” But sometimes being unchosen and neglected can have dire consequences, both physically and spiritually. But for you this is not the case.
In a sinful world, hurtful and thoughtless people abound. Their callousness is hard to take. Yet while living in this cruel world you have been chosen. The Holy Spirit has worked in your life to make you a child of God through faith. You have been called out of the darkness of sin and death. You have been chosen to live in God’s marvelous light here in time and there in eternity.
This marvelous light is the light of the Gospel. It is the light of forgiveness of sins that shines from the cross. It is full of marvel and wonder because God’s own Son has sacrificed Himself for us sinners. Inconceivable! But true. God’s grace in Christ is the most marvelous light and it shines brightly in this dark, dreary world of disappointment and sadness.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for calling me out of the darkness of sin and death. Thank you for making me part of your family. Grant that each day I may proclaim the excellence of your grace in Christ. Amen.
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Descent from the Cross
Rembrandt 1634
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Descent_from_the_Cross_(Rembrant).jpg
God’s richest blessings in Christ,
Pastor Philip Quardokus
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