Monday, May 15, 2023

           ¹³ So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. ¹⁵ Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. ¹⁶ The scripture says, “Be holy because I am holy.”

           ¹⁷ You call him Father, when you pray to God, who judges all people by the same standard, according to what each one has done; so then, spend the rest of your lives here on earth in reverence for him. ¹⁸ For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; ¹⁹ it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. ²⁰ He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

           ²² Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for other believers, love one another earnestly with all your heart. ²³ For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal. ²⁴ As the scripture says,

“All human beings are like grass, and all their glory is like wildflowers.  The grass withers, and the flowers fall, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

       This word is the Good News that was proclaimed to you.                   I Peter 1:13 – 25 

       Many divisions among us are caused by judgment – not God’s righteous judgment but human opinions.  I have the human tendency to gaze upon another and instantly “size him up.”  I sometimes see people doing things that I know are contrary to God’s Word and instead of allowing it to lead me to prayer for that person or conversation with that person, I scoot away and condemn under my breath.  There are divisions among us for sure, but the divisions we have between us are not more important than that which unites us, i.e. each of us is a unique creation of God; each of us is a sinner for whom Christ died.  That is the basis of human unity, church unity.  Why, then, do I allow petty things to keep me from my brother, my sister?  Why can’t I be like the Father who saw the prodigal’s sin, yet ran to embrace him?  O God, help me get this right and live in peace and harmony with all Your people.  Amen!