01.09.09

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.

If we know Jesus as our Savior we are part of a chosen people, a royal priesthood. But is that all that we are to be? Has God just chosen us and made us special? Is there anything more?

Yes, according to the second part of 1 Peter 2:9 there is more to it than just being a child of God, more than just being a Christian. What is that more? “…that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

How are we to do that? “…proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” The word “proclaim” is obvious in meaning. It means to tell, demonstrate or communicate in some way about “…Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” This means, of course, to proclaim or tell about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus in the Beatitudes makes this even clearer when He says: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).”

So, we can make a difference in 2009 by letting others know about how wonderful is our Lord and Savior. We do this by living like a Christian, in other words as the word Christian means, like “little Christs.” By living like Christ would live. However, we can never live as Christ would have us to live without supernatural power, supernatural strength.

How do we have the power to live in a way that will fulfill God’s purpose for our lives? It is really not all that difficult; we simply need to do as James says that we ought to do. James says in James 4, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

The fact is that we need God; we need more of God to live life in the way it ought to be lived. Jesus makes this clear when He is being tempted by the devil and He says in Matthew 4:4, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. In other words since Jesus is the Word become flesh (According to John 1:14), Jesus was quoting Himself.

We cannot really live life by just the material things that we see before us. What we eat, our material possessions, and the money we have are not what life is really all about. If we want to really live life and fulfill our purpose than we need what? We need more of Jesus.

The Word of God is Jesus and we need more of Jesus to live life like it ought to be lived. If we want to make a difference in 2009 we must read, study, meditate upon and input God’s Word into our lives in whatever way that we can. Because the more of God’s Word that we have, the more of Jesus that we have, and the more of Jesus that we have the closer we will be to God.

It comes down to making a priority of God’s Word, of making a commitment to not let a day pass without having some input of God’s Word into our lives in some way. We must come to a point in our lives that we recognize the vital importance of the Word of God. If we really want to live life and not just float through life drifting here and there we have got to make a real commitment to having God’s Word in our lives. The result of having more of Jesus will be that we will make a difference with our lives in 2009.