Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

1 Peter 1:17-2:1  (NRSV)

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.  You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.  For

“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
That word is the good news that was announced to you.

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.

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Reflect

My parents are wrestling with discomforts of aging, (and my brothers and I are pretty uncomfortable about it, too.) They are being forced by physical limitations and memory challenges to endure changes to their living arrangements that they would not voluntarily choose. Our family is struggling to help make these transitions as easy as possible for the parents we love so much. Throughout this process, I have become much more conscious of how temporary our physical beings are.

When Peter quotes Isaiah, “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever,” God is reminding Christians who were living faithfully within a pagan society that the good news of Christ is the only thing that will endure—everything else is temporary.

His message is for us to rejoice in the good news and live in God’s light because the things of earth are fleeting. We were ransomed, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. As difficult as facing the trials of aging is for my parents, and for me, we are so blessed to have the encouragement of our faith and the promise of life eternal through Christ our Lord.

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Pray

Enduring God, thank you for your loving presence through every stage of our lives. We ask that you guide us daily in genuine love for one another, as those who have been born anew through the living word of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Go with God!