…tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you – from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG)
Most people loved playing spot the difference as children, and some still do even as adults. Apparently, it is an excellent game for the brain and your cognitive development. You are given two pictures which are very similar, but there are a few subtle differences in the pictures. How many differences can you spot? How observant are you? I’m still tempted to play online, especially when the challenge pops us, “Only a genius can find them: Can YOU spot the differences in this photo?”
1 Peter tells us that we are “God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you – from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” The night-and-day difference. From nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. He goes on to say:
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:10 (ESV)
Once you were… Now you are…
In Colossians 3 we spot the differences because Paul contrasts the “once you were” way of life with the “now you are” way of life. The same happens in Ephesians 2. We were dead in our sins. We were separated from God. We were “children of wrath” – deserving of God’s punishment. We walked according to the course of this world. It’s a pitiful picture but then we read in Ephesians 2:4, “But God.” Now the picture is different. We are alive in Christ and reconciled to God. We are His glorious masterpiece and the recipients of the “exceeding riches of His grace [and] His kindness”.
Take time today to thank for the night-and-day difference He has made to your life.