Article came from Daily Encouragement as part of Ken Boa’s DAILY GROWTH email on July 20, 2022.
Adapted from Handbook to God’s Promises
BELIEVERS ARE CALLED TO GOOD PURPOSES
Our Sure Purpose(1 Peter 2:9)
We run our lives by making plans that fulfill purposes. Some people are content with two or three major objectives for the day written on a 3-by-5 index card, working out the details as the day unfolds. Others map out the day in fifteen-minute segments. But when we prayerfully try to determine God’s purpose for our life, the planning process becomes more complex. Our planning has to accomplish much more than simply planning for just one day.
Which approach does God take for our lives? Does He plan all the details (who we marry, where we work, where we live), or does He plan to transform our character while leaving us wide latitude of choice in the who-what-when-where-how categories? Bible scholars differ about the way in which God’s will controls the outworking of his plan for individuals—except in one case: The apostle Peter revealed an aspect of God’s will and purpose that is true for every single Christian believer.
Peter wrote that God’s purpose for all Christians is to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). He used terms that were originally applied to Israel—“a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession”— to describe Christian believers.
In the Old Testament God intended that, by its holiness, Israel would be a light for the rest of the world’s nations (Isa. 42:6; 49:6). That was His purpose, His will, for Israel. And now, Peter said, God has made that His purpose and will for the church as well. In a sense, this overarching purpose helps in determining other more detailed parts of God’s purpose for an individual’s life. If my decisions about where I work, who I marry, where I live, and what I do with my time, talent, and treasure do not allow me to declare, verbally or nonverbally, the praises of God, then these may not be part of God’s purpose for my life.
While we continue studying the Scriptures and praying to learn about God’s detailed purpose for our lives, we must be careful not to miss Peter’s description of our first priority. Bringing praise to God is our ultimate life purpose.