This is written is most easily understood as a part of the passage we read yesterday, in many ways the two should be read together. So if you haven’t done yesterday’s read 1st Peter 1:22-2:3. If you did read it yesterday, I suggest going back and re-reading it as context for today’s passage. Here’s what I got…
Yesterday the passage contained a quote from the prophet Isaiah regarding the temporality of human life and the eternality of God’s word. Peter also addresses the necessity of loving other people and loving them with a pure heart as a result of being transformed by the Bible. In today’s passage Peter continues with that same theme of how the Christians life ought to be changed by being in God’s word. Peter does not end his discourse on the bible by leaving it at “go love others”, Peter in chapter 2 gives some things that need to be removed for this love from a pure heart to exist. He says to “put away” all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. Because once we are saved we are to long after the word, to need it for daily survival and speaking from personal experience I don’t love as I ought when I am not actively in God’s word. The part about “longing for pure spiritual milk” of the passage is accounting for something that I am experiencing right now and both grateful for and ashamed by my lack of it in the past. The more I am in God’s word every day the closer I get to God (which is afforded to me, in part, due to my current job) the more I need it and the more I am drawn to it. I thank God for giving me the privilege of being in a position where I am paid to study God’s word. I feel like a kid in a candy shop or one of those guys that gets paid to play video games. I have and am currently tasting how good the Lord is, both in the salvation that he has provided through Christ and his word, where I can learn more about him.
Shipwreck Your Ingratitude
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[image: Shipwreck Your Ingratitude]
Be filled with the Spirit . . . giving thanks always and for everything to
God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus...
22 hours ago
The more I learn about God, the more I love him. One way to learn about God that is often overlooked is just reading his book. John said that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
ReplyDeleteTaking this as fact, it is safe to say that reading God's word is the same as hanging out with God and getting to know him more. I've noticed that I tend to act like those that I chill with the most. I don't think that I stand alone on this. I can certainly tell a difference in myself from when I'm not communicating with God. I start to swear more often, dirty jokes don't make me grimace in disgust, eyes wander, etc.
In order to become more like God, I need to spend time with him. As we learned earlier in chapter one, we are commanded to be holy because our God is holy. This means that we are to be complete and perfect. Paul said that we are to be blameless if we are to be Christians.
The term Christian means little Christs. This term has lost its meaning. People usually think of Christians as the people who always wear shirt and tie, wear there pants above their belly button, brainwash their kids through homeschooling (no offense to homeschooling, but there is a right and a wrong way to do it), and are just plain dull. Why is this so? Because Christians have allowed this to become their identity. What a shame! God is not dull! Christ is not dull! My God is a dynamic God that made bread pour out of the heavens, sent seven forms of persuasion to a stubborn Egyptian Pharaoh, created both land and sea along with all the unique critters that fill them. My Jesus fed five thousand (twice), stuck it to the man, silenced the storms, made the lame walk, the dumb talk, resuscitated a party (water into wine), and conquered death. None of these things are dull, but yet Christians created this horrible stigma for themselves because they put too much stock sacraments and not enough to the savior. If we spend more time with God, then we can become truly incredible and actually make a difference for him.
I've said my piece. What is yours?