Peculiar people

 

A peculiar people

 

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. – 1 Peter 2.9-10

 

This is one of those places where in really love the good old faithful King James translation. Here we are called God’s peculiar people.

 

To our 21^st ears that sounds kind of, well, peculiar. It sounds off. It sounds different and out of place. It can almost sound negative.

 

But peculiar is a great word. It does mean unique and different and special. It’s a word in this context because we are called God’s peculiar people. We are His social people. We are His prized possessions. It is our special claim because most of the world don’t have it. We are not His peculiar people because of anything we did by accepting His offer of salvation and are become His children. He paid a high price for us. It’s no wonder that He says that we are peculiarly His.

 

So, we are going to seem peculiar to the world around us. There would be something wrong if we did not seem peculiar.