You are Peculiar

The luck 'o the Irish to ya!  I have just a smidgen of Irish in me from my paternal grandmother and a lot of blarney in me from my maternal and paternal grandfathers.    I couldn't go with out wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day. For those of you who can, wear your green, tell someone to kiss you because you are Irish, and have some  corned beef and hash.

Celebrating our heritage is a good thing.  Knowing where you have come from is imporrtant.   You need to know what you ancestors went through, the good and bad, to learn from.  You may make the same mistakes, you may not.  In the movie, Forrest Gump, there is a part where we go through this history of Lt. Dan.  His ancestors died in every major war that the U.S.A. had fought in.  He was furious when Forrest saved him from death during the movie because he thought his destiny and duty was to die the same way.  I always thought that was interesting.  Kinda like the if everyone else jumps off a bridge, would you do it too?

God gives us a way out to not be like our ancestors or the world.  I feel more than "the luck 'o the Irish" when I think of God giving not only his chosen people of the Old Testament, the Israelites/Jews salvation, but when he opened it up to the Gentiles.  Thank goodness for that, or most of us wouldn't even be considered. Acts 10:45 says, "The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles."

God showed Peter in Acts that his love and saving grace is for all men, not just a race.  So we should celebrate our Christianity not only on Easter and Christmas, or even every Sunday, but every day.  We sometimes sing a praise song that says "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;" - 1 Peter 2:9.  I love that we are called peculiar people.  I take on offense to that.  I am peculiar, set apart, and strange.  I call it unique!