“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Who am I? What am I supposed to do with my life?
If you’ve ever asked those questions—or if you know someone currently asking those questions—sit with the apostle Peter for a moment. Listen to the fisherman turned disciple, apostle, missionary, and evangelist.
In the verses above, Peter wrote to Christians scattered throughout the Roman world, people from all walks of life. He reminded them of unchanging truths that united them and comforted them. Before the Holy Spirit created faith in their hearts through the message of Jesus Christ, they lived in darkness—separated from the wonderful light of life as God’s children. But after the work of the Holy Spirit . . . everything changed. God filled their lives with identity, purpose, and meaning.
The same is true for you and me, dear Christian.
Satan and our sinful flesh will do everything they can to fill us with guilt and shame over our past misdeeds and the sins we struggle with daily. But who we once were is not who we are now. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. We’re God’s dearly loved children.
Our identity as God’s special possession is rooted in Christ Jesus and what he has done for us. He’s shown us grace, mercy, and love as only he can. His perfect life is ours. His innocent death on the cross in our place has removed our sins from us. His triumphant resurrection assures us that heaven is our home.
And what we are supposed to do with our lives—what we get to do with our lives as God’s children—is unchanging, even if we all have different jobs, roles, and vocations: We declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Who am I? Who are you?
We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.
What am I supposed to do with my life? What are you supposed to do with yours?
We are who we are—God’s dearly loved children—so that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Declaring the praises of God, who rescued us from sin, death, and the devil—that’s what we get to do every day with our words and actions.
The answers to the questions above are that simple—and that incredible—all because of our Savior Jesus.
Money. Possessions. School. Work. Life. The things of this world. At times, it can all feel empty and meaningless.
In Your Life Has Meaning, Professor Luke George Thompson focuses on themes and Bible verses primarily from the book of Ecclesiastes and the life of Solomon to offer you a practical guide to finding meaning in life.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House and a 2023 graduate of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation with his family.
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