One songwriter speaks longingly of escaping life’s miseries and being home with God. Though many of us sing/say such things, it doesn’t mean that we are anxiously anticipating life in Heaven. We should all be longing for, and working toward eternity, and that is what Peter reminds us of. Having tasted and seen that God is good, Peter wanted to ensure that others would seek God wholeheartedly. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
I Peter 1:17 AFV
[17] And if you call upon the Father, Who judges according to each man’s work without respect of persons, pass the time of your life’s journey in the fear of God;
Calling on God
Peter, a former disciple of Y’shua Jesus, witness to the resurrected Christ, had a mission based on Y’shua’s Great Commission. He was present when Y’shua sent forth the disciples one last time, not as trainees, but as apostles … the sent out ones. Charged, alongside the other disciples with the responsibility of sharing the Good News of Christ’s redeeming love, he sought to teach the Word in ways that benefited those who sought Christ.
In this his first epistle, directed to believers throughout Asia Minor, Peter began with a reminder of their call to holiness. This was a bold call for a visible lived faith in spaces where it was not necessarily the norm. Peter knew that this wasn’t an easy ask, and so pointed them to the One Who enabled them to be holy.
Self-Check
How boldly do we live our faith? Can others see Christ in the way we conduct transactions, in our speech, in our actions?
Application
With every kind of temptation around us today, we can also be distracted from a life of holiness. Thus Peter’s letter is just as apt for us today. Some might say that there is greater scope for distraction as we are inundated with music, technology, and advertisements, in addition to the regular vices of work, study, food, friends, family and foes.
Peter, having the personal experience that we are incapable of achieving holiness on our own, offers us the best solution. He tells us to call on God. You see siblings, since God has no favourites in judging or rewarding us for how we live, so it is that God bears each of us when we call. We each can approach God’s Throne boldly, in Y’shua’s name, asking for grace to live holy lives.
And our God, Who is the blueprint for holiness, will give us the grace to live in continued reverence for God. That reverence is what produces holiness. When God is prioritised in our lives, the distractions fade.
It’s not that we no longer attend to work, study, food, friends, family, foes, technology, music, or advertisements. Rather, we relate to all those through the lens of God’s plans and purpose for us. Therefore, as God calls us to go forth, we call on God to lead us. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Point to Ponder
Perhaps one of our asks of God may be for a revelation of our personal mission based on God’s Great Commission.
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May all we seek be found in Christ
