This Day in History: 0000-05-24

May 24 – 1 Peter 1:8-9 & 13-16

You love Him even though you have never seen Him.  Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.  The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls… So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control.  Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.  So you must live as God’s obedient children.  Don‘t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.  But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.  For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Does your faith fill you with joy?  There is enough misery and heartache in this world to rob anyone of her joy.  Even the bubbliest optimist out there will be hit hard by life at one point or another and struggle to put on a happy face.  That’s why it’s so important for us to hold tight to our faith.  We have to study the Word so that we know who holds our future!

Even though we can’t see Him now, even though we can’t fully understand His purpose and plan, we can know Him through what He has revealed to us in Scripture.  We can believe in Him, we can trust Him, and we can love Him with all our hearts.  As we do, we’ll realize what He has given us – right standing with Himself.  By trusting in His redemptive work on the cross, we receive the salvation of our souls!  When we really grasp that truth, it will certainly bring us an inexpressible and glorious joy.  The trials of this life will pale in comparison to an eternity in His presence!

So let’s stay alert! Let’s keep our focus. Let’s prepare for action and exercise self-control. Let’s set our hope in Christ, and in the salvation He has given us.  Let’s refuse to be swayed to the right or to the left by desires that are “less than.”  There may have been a time when we chased after the things this world has to offer, but that was before we really knew what we have in Christ.  Now we know.  Now there isn’t anything worth more to us than being like our Abba.  Now, we can’t settle for anything less than holiness, because He is holy, and we are His.