May · Day 12
Living stones and a royal priesthood
Reading
Practical meditation
Peter says that, as we come to Christ, we also are being built up as living stones to become a spiritual house and a holy priesthood. The Lord joins us to Christ, and in that union He joins us to one another. God’s house is not a human project; it is the organic work of the Spirit.
This confronts an individual, private faith without body and without responsibility toward the brothers and sisters. A living stone does not exist to remain loose. It is worked and adjusted, often by the cross touching the rough edges of the natural character.
We are a holy and royal priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His light. Identity in Christ has a purpose: to express God as a body, a house, and a people who belong to Him. A living stone cannot live as a decorative stone.
Examine
Have I lived as a living stone being built together with the brothers and sisters, or as someone loose, passive, and merely observing?
Prayer
Lord, deliver me from spiritual passivity. Build me together with the brothers and sisters as a living stone in your house. Apply the cross to the rough edges of my natural character and cause me to exercise, in Christ, the priesthood we have received for your expression. Amen.
Practice
Let us observe where we have lived as spectators. Let us draw near to the brothers and sisters in a practical way and offer care, intercession, or concrete service today.