Sometimes in life, it is easiest to just go with the flow. Less stress, more accomplished. But it is equally important to realise that day doesn’t always mean best. As believers, we know that often, what is easy and expedient goes against the very foundations of our faith. This is Peter’s warning to us, and he should know. He walked alongside Y’shua as one of His disciples, learning from Y’shua directly. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
I Peter 1:14-15 AFV
[14] As obedient children, do not conform yourselves to the former lusts, as you did in your ignorance. [15] But according as He Who has called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct;
Non-Conformists
Siblings, Romans 12:1-3 expresses this sentiment, calling us to present ourselves to God as God’s set apart people, dying to our flesh nature. Like Peter, Paul asked us to yield to God’s will and not our own. That Peter says the same thing albeit, in his way, to another set of believers underscores the importance of this admonition. It suggests to me that conformity will present itself often, and most likely to all of us. It invites us, therefore, to be on our guard, recognising that our Adversary, the Devil, is on the prowl, ready to devour the unsuspecting sheep (see 1 Peter 5:8).
Self-Check
How prepared are we to a) withstand the enemy’s plans for us, or b) realise when the enemy is plotting against us?
Application
Isn’t it interesting how the different parts of the Bible complement each other? (I realise that there are also contradicting segments, or so it seems but let’s stay focused). Peter and Paul, though contemporaries, met and interacted with Y’shua in different ways. However, on this issue they remained steadfast: Do not conform to the lusts of the flesh; remain in Christ Who, in His holiness, has called us to holiness.
As we have started over the past two days, holiness is about being set apart from common use (conformity or crowd speak), to be dedicated to God’s glory. God is holy, for God is wholly other and wholly righteous. Christ, despite becoming human, stayed focused on God, even at His most vulnerable moment. His decision to yield to God’s will and not His desires assures us that holiness is possible.
Rather than yield to the popular view, or our old ways, Peter invites you and me to think twice. When the urge comes to revert to the old ways in responding to Life, Peter reminds us that Christ is the yardstick, the standard by which our actions are to be measured. If our old ways, or those proposed by public opinion do not align with a life set apart according to Christ’s standard, we must resist.
Not once, not twice only but all times. In word and action.
Point to Ponder
So, whose yardstick of holiness shall we use today?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
