I started out with great intentions of studying 1 Peter 1. I settled in with my notebook and coffee and started to read. I got to verse 2 and got derailed. I didn’t make it to the end of the chapter.
Here’s the verse as it read in my NLT bible: “God the Father chose you long ago, and the spirit has made you holy”.
Whoa…that’s two unbelievable things that really hit me hard. First, I am chosen. God selected me for what? He must have a purpose for me…a plan. Things he wants me to carry out. Not because He needs me to, but because He loves me and knows what is best for me. He has plans for me that I need to carry out, so that I may grow closer to Him and my life will little by little reflect who Jesus is.
Secondly, the Spirit has made me holy. Me, holy? I don’t feel holy. I know who I am, what I’ve done and thought about doing during the course of my life and it’s not pretty. Certainly not “holy” stuff. But God sent His spirit, one of the Trinity, to join with me, to guide me, to comfort me and to encourage me (just to name a few things the Holy Spirit does in our lives). So I am justified (made righteous) and am being sanctified (being made holy) because of and through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Those two things – being chosen and being made holy – really make me feel special today.
Richard Bahr 