ARE YOU LOOKING FOR YOUR CALLING?

1 Peter 2:9

"But 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.”

I had a somewhat funny experience with this verse. This was once my favorite verse because only of the first few lines. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” I preached about this verse for so many times. Repeating to young people and church members that we have a definite calling and we should, and we must live out this calling. You see here I was a pretty behavioral preacher. I always prescribed to my hearers what they should do and what they must do to achieve the highest standard of religious life. I was feeling like the best doctor that gives diagnosis to a sin problem and prescribes the right behavioral reformation to remedy the sinful behavior.

Then while preparing this post, I asked, my husband, “can you give me which verse is that with the line, ‘the from darkness to a marvelous light thing?’” He looked for it and he blurted, “isn’t this your favorite verse, and wow! You never noticed the best part of it?” I told him, “really? What?” The best part of 1 Peter 2:9 is not the first few lines but rather in the last part, “that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Wow!!! I missed the best part for so many years. To be honest, I don’t think, I remember reading the last line.

All those years, I pushed people to work hard and even harder to achieve the highest calling and identity. And sadly, I missed pointing them to the one who has called them. I sadly, took out the part of God who first and foremost wanted to mold them and so they can declare.

God never calls someone into a job that He never trains. God trains His children--walks with them, talks to them, and struggles with them. Working out your calling will just never work out. It is God’s work!

Friends, I missed a very big treasure. I missed that Someone is calling me. I missed that there is Someone who is willing to transfer my slavery into priesthood and royalty. I forgot that there is Someone calling me to be a Holy Nation, and most especially, I forgot that there is Someone Who is so willing to own me. I missed that He loves me, that is why He called me. He called me not because I am the best but He knows I can deliver in a very simple way the best picture of Him.

Friends, I missed all these and my life remained dry. But when I came to notice this line my life drastically changed. It feels like breathing life for the very first time.

The background of this verse is that it is used by Peter to remind the church of the promise of God to His nation Israel. A promise that they are God’s chosen people. This line describes God’s calling the Israel nation from the darkness in Egypt to the promised land. Remembrance of God’s deliverance and Passover. And the Old Testament prophets repeatedly taught God’s people the reminder that their life coming out from darkness shall produce in them praise to the great and mighty works of God.

Friends, we are God’s possession and HE called us out of darkness into this marvelous light through the works of Jesus. Friends, what if, our identity and calling rest on the ONE who called us. What if, our holiness, our priesthood, our life is in the hands of the ONE who called us. What if, the story is not about us doing the work of the chosen but the story is about the ONE who chose us.

What if, our calling is not to work on our holiness and our priesthood but rather to work on making known the ONE who called us, to make known the ONE who gave us new life, the ONE who gave us back the light, the ONE whose mission is to set people free out of the darkness into the marvelous light.