Do You See What I See?

"But you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him that called you out of darkness and 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

I left home and went away to college and loved it. I had the opportunity to start my life all over again and had left behind (or so I'd thought) all of the baggage of my hometown. I believed wholly and fully that I would be able to re-create myself in my new environment. In other words, this geeky nerd from the middle of no-where Michigan finally had the opportunity to become "cool". But of course, that came with a stipulation and there were certain things I would have to sacrifice for my new urge to be accepted.

What does the world see when it looks at you? The question struck me with an immense emphasis on Sunday. Often the world has been separated into two categories, those that know God and those that don't. The one's that truly know God act righteous but sometimes we have this tendency to look down on our nearsighted brethren. Believe it or not, us Christians actually forget that we are sinners saved by grace. But I'm getting onto another topic. In these two worlds, we get comfortable and forget the very concept of being one with Christ. The world looks at us and doesn't even notice us as we're coated in layers of camouflage.

So who should they see? Well 1 Peter clearly tells us that the pagans should see our good deeds and glorify God. In other words, our lives are supposed to reflect the very nature of God. The concept is heavy to say the least but we are his reflection, his chosen people. All of this means that people should be able to put their hope and trust in the God in us because our hearts should be his heart. We are ambassadors for Christ. We trust against all trust and hope against all odds. We cannot afford to be shaken by what we see because we trust in a God that is so far preparared, is so ahead of his time that our eyes aren't even equipped to see what he's already finished making. Our minds can't even comprehend the exceeding grace he has already poured out in our lives.

But can the world see this? Honestly, there are so many times in my own personal life that the answer has been a resounding no. I have invloved myself in situations which contradict my faith. But I guess that's why the apostle Paul died daily and calls us to do the same. We have to give our every fear, concern and question over to the comforter because if God's chosen people don't represent him... who will? Who will show the world redemption if the redeemed are too surrounded in darkness to do so? Light in the darkness implies that we shine or rather, that we allow Christ to shine through our lives and crucify our own selfish desires daily. This day, choose to show the world who God really is and how much he has in store for those who trust him.