I’m always grateful for the many of you who join me in my morning devotions. We have been thinking deeply about what Peter wrote in his first letter, the book of the Bible called First Peter.

Last time we talked about the following passage:

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  1 Peter 2:4-5

We talked last time about Jesus being the living stone who was rejected by men but chosen and precious to God. But, today, let’s look at the second half of the passage. Peter writes that we also are living stones being built into something.

He describes what we are being built up to in two phrases. First, he says we are being made into a spiritual house, and then into a holy priesthood. Jesus had told Peter that He, Jesus, would build His church and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). So, we as believers are stones that Jesus is using to construct His church which is a “spiritual” house. It is a “spiritual” structure, not a brick-and-mortar building.

We have gotten used to using the word “church” for the building in which we gather to worship God and to be taught his Word. But we need to be sure we understand that the church is not a building. It is the people of God which are being formed together as a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).

The second aspect Peter tells us is that we are a holy priesthood. According to this passage, a priest offers up spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God. What kind of sacrifices would this be? I can think of several that the Bible explicitly identifies as sacrifices:

• Praise to God, the fruit of our lips – Hebrews 13:15
• Our bodies – Romans 12:1
• Doing good and sharing with others – Hebrews 13:16
• Our financial giving – Philippians 4:18
• Ministry – Romans 15:16
• Our love – Ephesians 5:2 connects Christian love with Christ’s sacrificial offering.

Take some time today and this week to try to change your view of yourself as a Christian from an ordinary person just trying to please God and do the right thing, to a view that sees yourself as a living stone that God is using to construct His church and as a priest offering frequent sacrifices to God that He finds acceptable for what He is trying to accomplish in this world.