Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty...sound familiar? The word "holy" is a way to describe the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Holy is the Son of God who walked this earth and never sinned... not once. Holy is the Spirit of God. But what if I told you that if you are a Christian, you too are holy. Now if you're anything like me (flawed, corrupt, sinful), that word does not seem to fit. That was until I came across the truth in 1 Peter 2:9 which says,

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."

Can we break that down? So this is saying that I am chosen? Even when I feel unworthy, even when I know I have so many weaknesses? I. Was. Chosen. I was chosen for what? Well, we will get to that later in the verse.

I am a royal priesthood. Well, you might ask the meaning behind that. To clarify the context, the priests were the only ones during this time period who were able to speak directly to God Himself and intercede for the people in the Holy of Holies (which was a sacred room where the presence of God dwelled in the temple). But good news for us! When Jesus died for us, that barrier was destroyed and now we are able to dive into a relationship with Him in such an intimate way that we are called priests.

Getting back to that word "holy," God says we are a Holy nation. The people of God, the "church," are a nation that is set apart. That is the meaning of the word "holy." The verse also tells us that we are God's special possession. How cool is that? We belong to the King of all Kings!

This last part of the verse is one of my favorite parts because it shows that God gives free will to us even when He know that we may not do what we were created for. The verse says "that you may declare the praises of Him." It does not say that he was going to strap you to a tree and force you to worship Him; we have a choice. He "called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." Another choice of words that shows us that He wants to guide us out of our burdens and sin and into His glorious love. He calls us.

Remember when I mentioned that You were chosen? Well you were chosen out of Love. Jesus was sent because of the relationship He wanted to have with you and so we could fulfill our purpose through Christ. We are called to be set apart. We are chosen to be different. I had to ask myself the question, "Am I living like I am in the world but not of the world? Do people see me living to represent Christ?"

You are: Holy. Set Apart. Chosen. Royal. Special Possession of the God over all.

Put that on your resume.