Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – 1 Peter 1:13-25
Set – Psalms 76; 1 Peter 1
Go! – Isaiah 36-37; Psalms 76; 1 Peter 1
1 Peter 1:13-25
13 So get yourselves ready, prepare your minds to act, control yourselves, and look forward in hope as you focus on the grace that comes when Jesus the Anointed returns and is completely revealed to you. 14 Be like obedient children as you put aside the desires you used to pursue when you didn’t know better. 15 Since the One who called you is holy, be holy in all you do. 16 For the Scripture says, “You are to be holy, for I am holy.” 17 If you call on the Father who judges everyone without partiality according to their actions, then you should live in reverence and awe while you live out the days of your exile.
18 You know that a price was paid to redeem you from following the empty ways handed on to you by your ancestors; it was not paid with things that perish (like silver and gold), 19 but with the precious blood of the Anointed, who was like a perfect and unblemished sacrificial lamb. 20 God determined to send Him before the world began, but He came into the world in these last days for your sake. 21 Through Him, you’ve been brought to trust in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him for the very reason that your faith and hope are in Him.
22 Now that you have taken care to purify your souls through your submission to the truth, you can experience real love for each other. So love each other deeply from a [pure] heart. 23 You have been reborn—not from seed that eventually dies but from seed that is eternal—through the word of God that lives and endures forever. 24 For as Isaiah said,
All life is like the grass,
and its glory like a flower;
The grass will wither and die,
and the flower falls,
25 But the word of the Lord will endure forever.
This is the word that has been preached to you.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Do you remember what Peter said to those early Christians? It applies to you today, also. Listen again. “…get yourselves ready, prepare your minds to act, control yourselves, and look forward in hope… . …put aside the desires you used to pursue when you didn’t know better. 15 Since the One who called you is holy, be holy in all you do.”
It’s easy to get trapped by the things of the world today. It’s easy to let the call of the world convince you everything is okay. But you know better. If you know Me and have Me in your heart, you know I write My laws on your heart and have standards for you that want you to transform yourself from the pattern of this world to the pattern of My kingdom. I want you to look like Me when I return. I want you to get ready to meet Me and not have to take time to prepare yourself.
When I tell you, I want you ready to act, not looking in the book trying to figure out what’s next. If you consistently read My word and talk to Me, you’ll know how to act when I return. You’ll know what to do when I give you a task.
Peter also tells you to put aside the desires you used to pursue when you didn’t know better. Remember when you where a kid and fascinated with fire? You’re parents probably told you several times not to play with matches or fire or other combustibles. You didn’t really understand why, but you obeyed until your desire to play with fire became too much for you. You learned the hard way why your parents warned you not to play with fire when you got a little to close and ended up with a blister on your hand or arm or leg because the fire burned you.
Hopefully, it was a relatively small, but painful lesson you learned well in your childhood and you’ve paid attention to the lesson since. Too many people know the devastation that severe burns cause both physically and psychologically when faced with large percentages of their body scarred from the aftermath of a raging fire. Peter uses such a metaphor to remind you to be like that younger obedient child that listens to its partents and avoids the potential pain that comes from disobedience.
So instead of focusing on those desires you used to chase, focus on the hope I bring. Focus on maintaining your holiness. I ask you to be holy because I am holy. Why do I ask you to work to attain such a high standard? Because I want you to be like Me. I won’t lower myself. I won’t lower My standards. I am holy. Without holiness you cannot see Me. Work to become holy as I am holy. Separated from the world, set apart in service to Me.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.