Last 5 Days
Come and Taste that He is good!
1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 and
“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 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.
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
It is essential to know who is the 'you' that Peter, the author, is saying. From the beginning of the book, we know that Peter was writing to all born again Christians under persecution and dispersed in various areas. In other words, this 'you' pretty much refers to us. In chapter 1, Peter helped his readers understand that they are very fortunate to know Christ despite the persecution that caused the dispersion. Thus, in chapter 2, he taught them how they should live this life to the fullest. That is, to live according to how God has designed it. To live as a chosen race of God.
Firstly, our intake of food has to be changed. (The entire passage we just read is still at this point.) No more junk food. We got to eat and taste Jesus and know that He is good. That means understanding all the intricate things that the Lord has done for us:
We are now the living stones of a spiritual house with Jesus as the cornerstone.
We have formed a nation of the royal priesthood
After knowing our honourable status, we can no longer live according to our past and continue to long for the things of this world. We must conduct ourselves with honour in the Lord.
I think the key verse here is v.3. We do not force ourselves to change. We change only when we have tasted or realised that the Lord is good. Knowing God's love and expectations for us causes us to change effortlessly. Naturally, we become like the living stones that form God's spiritual house. We shall be holy as our Lord is holy. We shall testify to our Lord by our lives.
So, let us not rush. Let us draw ourselves closer to God by spending time meditating on His words so that we might know that He is good. After which, we allow the conviction of our heart to lead us to live out the lives of Christ in us.
So let us start reading His words not as a chore but with understanding and joy.
