To choose and be chosen

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 (ESV)

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I am ever more mindful of the blessings we have enjoyed at CIF. We are blessed that our employees choose us, that of the many options out there, they choose what we offer, and just as importantly, the mission we live by. It is an honor to serve the Lord together.

1 Peter 2 says our Lord Jesus Christ was chosen and precious in the sight of God, and that we like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house. There is abounding life, great vibrancy and godly influence in God’s household for the work of Christ’s church on earth.

Grateful for our investors

I think of our investors, people and churches that have made a conscious, thoughtful decision to put their money in a faith-based organization to do Kingdom work. They are precious to us. Many stayed through the pandemic and the interest rate changes that followed. They stayed when there were other options clamoring for their attention.

The words – God’s Word – in this section of scripture are impactful, partly because they draw on physical examples of spiritual realities. “Living stones, a spiritual house,” and a few verses later, a cornerstone, referring to Jesus Christ.

In the general sense, a cornerstone is something of great importance that everything else depends on. In the building sense, traditionally it was the first stone laid, the start of the foundation, marking the location and orientation of a structure. In the spiritual sense, the Lord Jesus is all of those things for us as believers.

We often say it is not the building that really matters, it is the people and the ministry that takes place in the building, the spiritual house, so to speak. This is where the real life is, the living stones who do Kingdom work for the Lord.

Physical things for spiritual purposes, and people serving Christ

Solid tangible things like buildings and dollars to purchase, equip and improve them are our tools of the trade to be used by God. There are many ways we can elaborate on how our financial services are on a mission.

But CIF is not just numbers on paper or a screen, budgets and balance sheets, risk ratings and so on. It is also our people, our staff, who love the Lord and help define us as an organization. As the world around us seems to be fighting Christian values around every corner, we pray and press on in our labor to serve Kingdom expansion.

We are a team, where people have input. Our collaboration together is rich, and we feel a part of what we’re doing. We improve and refine the way we do things. There is banter and laughter, support and hard work. We are all committed to that. For this, I am also thankful.

In the biblical sense, there is nothing more firm, more bedrock than a stone. Jesus is that living stone, rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious. What a blessing that we as believers are also like living stones, built up and doing work for God’s Kingdom.

Wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends. Thank you for your partnership and support of CIF.