The Esteem of the Lord

UV 2039/10000 The Esteem of the Lord
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 7 v 6

We are declared in this uni-verse to be a special people, a peculiar people, a holy people. We are special not on account of our abilities, talents, qualities, the race or class or any attribute or any action on our part but as we are chosen by Him to be in a covenant relationship with Him. We are special as we are in a covenant of love with Him by the sacrifice of Jesus. We are above all people on the face of the earth as He loved us first and then we respond by obeying His commandments and walking in His ways. This fact is the foundation of our faith and on that foundation, He will establish the covenant or build it till it is complete and perfect in every aspect.

As a further response to His love, we are to offer spiritual and not physical sacrifices- the sacrifice of our egos, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. We offer praise and are zealous for good deeds as He has called us from the darkness or ignorance of Him that prevails in this world into the marvellous light of personal knowledge of the Lord. He has called us out of all nations to be God’s own nation, a spiritual nation of dedicated priests and kings, above all human concepts and divisions of nationality, science, religion, ideology and culture.

The belief that we are a people esteemed by the Lord should humble us and enable us to work towards His standards of holiness in our conduct, speech and thoughts. It should give us the confidence and boldness to overcome temporary hurdles and difficulties we encounter in this world. Our focus is on the author and finisher of our faith as we run the race and fight the good fight. We are never alone in this race or fight for the Lord goes with us and He fights on our behalf. We do not have a sense of self esteem for our esteem is of the Lord. This kind of self esteem does not make us proud or complacent but it teaches us to endure more, to persevere more, to work for higher goals and priorities in our lives.

Prateep V Philip