lion rebel

1 Peter 1.13-21

Remembering that Jesus has been and always will be, understanding that our future life starts now with him, and that he has not forgotten us in the least should bring to our heads and our hands a call to action. “So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now.” This takes effort, it takes will – this is why we were created with free will, so that we would have the opportunity to choose to live for him.

But it’s not enough to just choose him once or twice or fifty times. It takes dedication to walk it out in humility and honesty. Our old life is constantly calling to us, drawing us, wanting us to live the way we used to. But the point is that we know better now than we did before. We’ve experienced the taste of true life and true living. To turn back now would be to abandon the hope of God that has been presented to us.

“As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.” This is how obedience elongates our “choice” for God. It’s not just about us choosing God, but choosing every moment to be obedient. Every breath we take presents a new opportunity for a choice to either follow God or fulfill ourselves in our own meaningless ways. God is holy and is calling us to be holy. That’s a pretty stiff line in the sand. It’s a line in the sand created by Christ’s sacrifice: “You call out to God for help and he helps – he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately – at the end of the ages – become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.“

That’s a large portion of verses that simply puts it this way: God sacrificed his Son and that’s why we choose to obey. It was no afterthought. And our choice to live for God should be no afterthought either. An afterthought turns into a forgotten thought, something that no longer comes to fruition. It’s like when you forgot to take out the garbage even though you momentarily remembered you were supposed to after you left the house. That does you, nor your wife, any good. In this case, it’s not the thought that counts. It’s the obedience.