Set Apart Devotional June 22

1 PETER 2:9 |  ⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of   darkness into his marvelous light.

This revolutionary verse became a rallying cry in the Reformation period. Rather than a hierarchy of religious officials standing above a multitude of powerless followers, living in dependence and inferiority, Peter claims ordination and priesthood for all believers. All followers can mediate God’s grace, teach His truth, and relieve the burdens of others. They can all stand between.

Each disciple operates in a different sphere, at work and at home. Professionals and family relationships become areas of ministry. We “stand between,” mediating grace to coworkers, children, spouses, neighbors—or ordained to the ministry of ordinary life. This verse makes the secular sacred.

Do you have a sense of being called to “ordinary” life as a mediator of grace?

Gracious God,

Anoint me Lord. Send me as a holy helper to the people in my life. Make my secular activities sacred.

Amen.