There is a deep ache in the human heart to belong, to matter, to have a name that goes deeper than what we do or where we come from. In 1 Peter 2:9, God answers that ache with a stunning description of who we are in Christ—chosen, royal, holy, and treasured. He reminds us that we are not accidents of history but part of a deliberate, eternal plan, set apart to show the world what He is like. This identity is not a slogan; it is a calling that reshapes every ordinary moment of our lives.

Chosen for His Glory, Not Our Ego

Being “a chosen people” means your life is not random. Long before you ever reached for God, He reached for you. Scripture says, “For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence” (Ephesians 1:4). You were not merely rescued from judgment; you were chosen for holiness. That destroys pride and insecurity at the same time. You did not earn this, so you cannot boast; yet you are wanted, so you do not have to fear being discarded.

This choosing is not mainly about personal comfort, but about God’s glory made visible in you. God told Israel, “you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations… you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6). Peter intentionally echoes this language to show that, in Christ, believers from every nation now share that calling. Your job, your family role, your stage of life—these are places where God has stationed you so that His character and His gospel can be seen.

A Royal Priesthood in an Unholy World

Peter calls believers “a royal priesthood.” That is breathtaking. Royal means you belong to the King; priesthood means you serve in His presence and represent Him to others. Elsewhere we read that Jesus “has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (Revelation 1:6). Every Christian, not just pastors or missionaries, is called into this priestly service. Your prayers matter. Your worship matters. Your words about Jesus matter.

Priests stand in the gap—between God and people, between truth and lies, between light and darkness. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). To be a royal priest is to resist the pressure to blend in when the world mocks God’s designs for life, family, and holiness. It is to carry your Bible-convictions with humble courage, loving those who disagree while refusing to dim the light to make anyone more comfortable in the dark.

A Holy Nation That Actually Lives Differently

Peter also calls us “a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Holy means different, set apart, morally and spiritually distinct. Holiness is not a harsh word; it is a beautiful word. It is the beauty of a life aligned with God’s character. Romans 12:2 urges us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. If our lives look exactly like the world’s, then our message about a saving, transforming Savior rings hollow.

Notice that our identity leads to a mission: proclaiming His excellencies. The God who called you out of darkness expects your life and lips to point back to Him. Jesus said, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). That means purity in relationships, integrity in business, faithfulness in marriage, courage to stand for truth, compassion for the broken, and a clear, loving witness to the gospel. You were not just called out of something; you were called into something—into His marvelous light, to live there and to shine from there.

Lord, thank You for calling me out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Help me today to live as Your chosen, holy, and bold witness, so that others may see Your truth and come to know You.

It is surely an erroneous supposition for humans to think or to believe that death will transform our attitude and dispositions. This is what I mean: if in this life we are not really comfortable talking and singing about heaven and its joy, I doubt that death will transform us into enthusiasts! If the worship and adoration of God are tedious now, they will be tedious also after the hour of death. I do not know that God is going to force any of us into His heaven. I doubt that He will say to any of us, "You were never very interested in worshiping Me while you were on earth, but in heaven I am going to make that your greatest interest and your ceaseless occupation." Controversial? Perhaps, but in the heavenly scene John describes, the living creatures crying "Holy, holy, holy!" rest neither day nor night. My fear is that too many of God's professing people down here are resting far too often between their efforts to praise and glorify the living God!

I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving. - Jonah 2:9

There are many vague and oppressive anxieties that come and cast a shadow over our hearts, that, if we could once define and put into plain words, we should find that we vaguely fancied them a great deal larger than they were, and that the shadow they flung was immensely longer than the thing that flung it. Put your anxieties into definite speech. It will reduce their proportions to your own apprehension very often. Speaking them, even to a man who may be able to do little to help, eases them wonderfully. Put them into definite speech to God, and there are very few of them that will survive.

"By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." That thanksgiving is always in place. If one only considers what he has from God, and realizes that whatever he has he has received from the hands of Divine love, thanksgiving is appropriate in any circumstances. Do you remember when Paul was in gaol at the very city to which this letter (Philippians) went, with his back bloody with the rod and his feet fast in the stocks, how then "he and Silas prayed and sang praises to God"? Therefore the obedient earthquake came and set them loose. Perhaps it was some reminiscence of that night which moved him to say to the church that knew the story - of which perhaps the gaoler was still a member - " By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests known unto God."

One aching nerve can monopolize our attention and make us unconscious of the health of all the rest of the body; so, a single sorrow or loss obscures many mercies. We are like men that live in a narrow alley in some city, with great buildings on either side towering high above their heads, and only a strip of sky visible. If we see up in that strip a cloud, we complain and behave as if the whole heavens, right away round the three hundred and sixty degrees of the horizon, were black with tempest. But we see only a little strip, and there is a great deal of blue in the sky; however, there may be a cloud in the patch that we see above our heads, from the alley where we live. Everything, rightly understood, that God sends to men is a cause of thanksgiving; therefore, "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

"Casting all your anxieties upon Him," says Peter, " for He " - is not anxious; that dark cloud does not rise much above the earth- but, "He careth for you." And that loving guardianship and tender care is the one shield, armed with which we can smile at the poisoned darts of anxiety which would else fester in our hearts and, perhaps, kill. " Be careful for nothing" - an impossibility unless "in everything" we make "our requests known unto God."