Daily Devotional April 22 - A Peculiar People

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light:" 1 Peter 2:9

Most of the time when people are talking about this verse, they mention the part about Christians being 'peculiar' people, almost always in jest. We should be a peculiar people, but not in the way that we are profiled by the world. Here's how I see it:

We are a chosen generation

• Every generation of men and women has been chosen for service in God's Kingdom, not everyone accepts the invitation
• Because God knew ahead of time who would choose to accept and who would reject His invitation, it appears that the blessings of God are only for His chosen generation and that's right, but anyone could have been a part of God's great gift.

We are a royal priesthood

• God made us a kingdom of priests by ordaining believers into ministry.
• The reason we are a royal priesthood is because we are priests of the King of Kings

We are an holy nation

• Our nation awaits us. We will be with the King after the rapture as a nation of people with God as our Father and Sovereign King.

We are a peculiar people

• Because we give to others without any expectation of return
• Because we pray for the sick and play an active role in co-creating with God
• Because we abide by the laws of our nation in order to give God the glory
• Because we do not lie
• Because we have integrity at home, in business and in all of our dealings
• Because we do not follow the trends of the world
• Because we read our Bible and meditate on it and follow its instructions
• Because we have a risen Savior, one who is alive and active in our daily life
• Because we gather together in church with others who are imperfect like ourselves in order to honor God with our attendance
• Because we love one another in a way that just can't be explained
• Because we have forgiven and will continue to forgive those who have hurt us
• Because we bless those who have persecuted us
• Because we pray positively for those have have misused us or betrayed us
• Because we have become fools for Christ and we follow His teachings even if it is going against the tide
• Because we believe in miracles that are orchestrated and performed by a loving and faithful God
• Because we believe that angels are going about working on our behalf as directed by the Holy Spirit
• Because we believe that the devil and his demonic forces are real and they are intent on destroying us or our relationship with God
• Because we believe in heaven as a real place where we will become residents
• Because we believe in hell as a real place where those who do not accept God's free gift of salvation will take permanent residence

I hope this is what you were thinking of concerning what peculiar means.