Peter exhorts the believers to be like newborn babes, desiring God’s spiritual milk through which they would grow up into their salvation, seeing that they had tasted that the Lord is good. We have come to Christ, God’s chosen and precious Living Stone; we, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be God’s holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We have the honor of resting on that foundation stone which God has laid in Zion, and since we believe in him we will never be put to shame.

Those who reject him, however – those refusing to believe in our Living Stone – have actually rejected the Cornerstone. For them, this Stone has become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They who do not believe in him stumble, because they disobey the word, as Peter declares they were destined to do. But we who cling to Christ are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. We have been given the honor to proclaim the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once we were not a people, but now, we belong to God. Once we had not received mercy, now we are forgiven.

Peter exhorts the believers to put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. As those who have been redeemed through the blood of Christ, we now are free to live for Christ and for love of others alone, with neither hate nor cruelty toward anyone.

Grant to us the loving heart of Jesus, and eliminate from us all forms of hatred or cruelty. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.

Worship is what we were made for. God created man because He wanted relationship. It’s what He’s about, and by now it must be clear that the way—the only way—to an intimate relationship with God is through worship. As we worship, we must be reminded to stay focused on the God of wonder. Worship is NOT the music, the methods, or the messenger. Worship is our expression of love to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lived out in our daily lives.

~ Vernon Whaley, Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God’s Call. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009. p. 333.

Let God Arise! Seasonal Focus
The Spirit Is Here, Acts 2.1-21

Book Reading
Whaley, Called to Worship

Our Corporate Disciplines
National Day of Prayer: Monday, May 8, 2023