TUESDAY September 5th
1 Peter 2:10
‘Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’
I wonder if any of us have ever looked on someone else and seen all their achievements, maybe the letters after their name and the big house etc. and thought to ourself I’m nobody in comparison to them, look at me, little education, a simple little job, very little money, my car is on its last legs and well, my house may not be like a castle, but at least I have a home.
Well, lets remind ourselves that all these things are temporal, and I am not knocking achievement I’m all for it, especially seeking to excel and do well in life and I certainly believe that we should seek to perform our best in the workplace, but whatever we have in this life, will in the final analysis count as nothing. Why?
Outside of Christ everything counts for nothing as far as eternity is concerned, but thank God because of his mercy and his grace, God has made us into a people, and not any kind of people, HIS people. We who were nothing and maybe may not have much in this life, have become something, and we have become rich in Christ, and there is no better person to be than one who is a child of God, one of his people, in his family and as such we are all of equal standing.
I am so grateful today that I have received mercy from God. Are you? Have you? For outside of his mercy and grace we would be hopelessly lost, we would be facing judgment that would lead to an eternity lost in hell. In James 2:13 we read ‘Mercy triumphs over judgement’ and when we have come to know the mercy of God which was demonstrated for us at Calvary, it triumphs over judgement and we are declared as not guilty, we are free.
One of the hymns we often sing has in its chorus, ‘Mercy there was great’ and God’s mercy is great, Peter has already said in chapter 1:3 ‘according to his great mercy’ and for us who have become his people his mercies are new every morning, (Lamentations 3:22-23). The same hymn continues ‘grace was free’ therefore as you read or may listen to this devotion, have you come to the place of receiving God’s great mercy and amazing grace? It is found at the place called Calvary, where Jesus died to bring mercy and grace for each one of us. Come today to place your faith and trust in him and in all that he has done for you, in Ephesians chapter 2 we read ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved . . .’ (verses 4-5) In coming to receive his grace and mercy, you too will become one of his people!