Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:13
Therefore…
Therefore. Whenever a sentence, especially one from the Bible that has an encouragement about how to live, starts with the word “therefore,” we want to know what came before it and why we would do what we’re being told to do. Jesus’ apostle, Peter tells us to prepare our minds for action. Why? He urges us to be self-controlled. Why? He encourages us to set our hope on Jesus. Why?
Peter answers the question “why” in the opening words of his letter. You are chosen by God. You are recipients of his grace— his undeserved love—and have peace with God through the forgiveness of sins. Jesus has risen from the dead, and because he lives his followers will live…forever…too! Your true and lasting inheritance is waiting for you in heaven. God’s power will shield you, and his Word will keep your faith secure. Even when you have to endure trials God gives you reason to rejoice and uses such things to strengthen and prove the genuineness of the precious faith you’ve received. God’s prophets served you when they spoke and wrote of the Savior. Even the angels look with wonder and amazement at the love God has shown to a sinful human race through the forgiveness-winning life and death of his Son!
Therefore…all those undeserved blessings change us, and they change the way we live. Because our God has given us faith and new life in Christ we want to serve him. We want to use every moment and every opportunity to live for his glory. Therefore, prepare your minds for action! As God’s redeemed children we know the dangerous temptations of Satan and we know the damaging toll of sin. And so we ready ourselves for spiritual warfare and God-pleasing lives, putting off the ungodly desires of our natural self and putting on the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, be self-controlled! We know that Jesus lives and rules for us and in us. We know that one day…and soon!…he will come to take us from this sin-cursed world to our inheritance in heaven. We need not become overly attached to this world and the disappointments that come with putting our hope in people or things. We look to Jesus, the hope that never fails. Therefore, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
God has given us plenty of reasons to rejoice and live as his redeemed children. Therefore, let’s take Peter’s encouragement to heart and let these things be evident in our lives!
Prayer:
Risen Lord Jesus, we thank and praise you for the blessings of forgiveness, faith, hope, and love. Help us to live as citizens of heaven until the day you come to take us there. In your name we pray. Amen.
The focus of devotions on Thursdays and Fridays in January is Truths for Today.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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