Everyone Is a MinisterSample

God has always intended to bring everyone close to him. God wants people to love him, but he does not want to force them to embrace him because real love does not involve coercion.

So God chose a special group of people just for him. This chosen nation, the people of Israel, were God’s representative to the rest of the world. God wants to show everyone his loving kindness through how the Israelites would love him and love one another. When other nations have witnessed the blessed life these Israelites have, they too will worship the Lord God of Israel.

Well, it didn’t work out as planned, did it? The Israelites did not appreciate their privilege as God’s chosen nation, his holy nation. Instead, they choose to live like everyone else around them. They rebelled against God, and God punished them by giving them what they wanted. God’s presence left, and Israel became just another nation like everyone else.

But God is not done. He sent his Son, Jesus, to draw a new chosen people to him, a holy nation that transcends borders and ethnicities. If you follow Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are now part of God’s new holy and chosen nation.

God has blessed us with his presence, just like he used to do with the Israelites. He is there when we gather in his name. When we are sick and tired of being sick and tired, God allows us to come near him. Those are just a few privileges we have for being God’s newly chosen people.

But the responsibility stays the same. God expects us to be his representatives in this broken world. God wants us to love him and one another so much that everyone else will know and worship him, too. Our life in God’s Kingdom must be so attractive that people around us will come to love him.

So that’s the gist of what Peter is telling his audience here. Be attractive! But not by wearing fancy clothes or undergoing plastic surgery, be attractive by living the life God wants you to live. Be attractive by being who God wants us to be according to his divine plan and holy scriptures. And see how people will come and ask you about the God who has made you special.