Husbands

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“In the same way, you husbands must give honour to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.”
1 Peter 3:7 NLT

In this very important verse giving advice to Christian husbands, Peter starts with “In the same way”.The same way as what? To answer that we must read again the previous verses and review the intent behind Peter’s words. We read about “godly lives”, “a gentle and quiet spirit”, “trust in God”, and obedience. I’m not sure why Peter felt he had to write to wives over six verses but use just one for husbands. But the picture emerges of a relationship, seasoned by love, sacrifice and commitment. The message to the wives also has some important elements within it for the husbands.

A Christian husband, Peter wrote, must treat his wife with honour and understanding, the more so because Peter thinks she is the weaker member of the dual relationship. And he warns that if the husband doesn’t treat his wife properly, his prayer life will be hindered.

But the key message is around the word “equal”. So often in society, we hear about situations where the wife is very much the weaker, or less significant, or even mistreated member of the partnership, but Peter made clear that this should not be the case. In Galatians 3:28, Paul also made the case for equality. “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are indeed all equal in God’s sight. In this age of confusion over issues such as gender and feminism, Peter’s age-old advice paints a picture of marriage and life, built and implemented God’s way. 

Biblical marriage is between a man and a woman. There is no other option, in spite of the strident demands of the society in which we live, a stridency that has even persuaded many established churches to abandon what God has decreed and promote a different way. Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, populated the Garden of Eden. And following God’s way in marriage I’m sure brings a smile to His face, as He watches His dear children behave in accordance with His created model for mankind. As we read in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

Dear Father God. A marriage rooted and founded in You can never fail. Thank You. Amen.

A Gentle Spirit

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”
1 Peter 3:3-4 NLT

These two verses today were written to wives, but they could equally apply to their husbands. They too can be caught up in the expensive dressing regime, following fashions and fads that are promoted by companies and conventions. Designers think about a new or revamped type or code of dressing and a new range of expensive products appear in the shops and on-line market places. But Peter points out the pointlessness of trying to enhance “outward beauty” with a new dress code or haircut. A bracelet or ring, no matter what it cost, has no value to God.

When Samuel was sent by God to a man with several sons, so that he could select the next Israelite king to replace Saul, his subjective analysis of the eldest son was overruled, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”” (1 Samuel 16:7). We need to remember what Samuel said to Saul earlier. We read in 1 Samuel 13:14, “But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command” (emphasis mine). 

So is this reference to someone’s heart the same as the place where “a gentle and quiet spirit” can be found? Jesus said, as recorded in Luke 6:45, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart“. The heart in the Bible is where a person’s spiritual life can be found. It is a place synonymous with our spirits and is where the Holy Spirit resides after we have experienced our new birth into being children of God. So instead of pursuing the externals of our persons, we should be developing and adorning our hearts with things that develop into Godly beauty. The Bible is a treasure of beautiful things that will transform our hearts, our spirits, into a place of gentleness and quiet. A place where God takes pleasure. A place that is precious to Him.

Dear Father. Thank You that we can store Heavenly Treasure with You, confident that it is safe until we reach our Heavenly home. And if it is precious to You, it is precious to us. Amen.

Fancy Hairstyles

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”
1 Peter 3:3-4 NLT

Peter continued to write to the women in the congregation, who were presumably assembled to hear as his letter read out. He contrasted the outward paraphernalia of how people look that was demanded in that age, much as it has been ever since, with the beauty that God desires. The so called global beauty industry in the 21st Century is big business, and the cost of cosmetics alone is expected to reach $750 billion each year by 2025. But not one cent of that will get a person into Heaven. It should be added that this includes what men spend on cosmetics as well. Peter singled out “fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery, or beautiful clothes” but these days we need to add cosmetics and the costs of surgery, that is increasingly becoming desirable. Perhaps a search for perpetual youth drives an industry that is doomed to fail in the end. The wonderful thing for us pilgrims is that when we reach Heaven we will receive a new body. In Philippians 3:21 we read, “He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control“.‭‭ There’s more to read about our new bodies in 2 Corinthians 5.

We all love beautiful things. I know a man who owns 2 Porsche cars and 2 Ducati motorbikes as well as a Land Rover for everyday use. He is what we call in the UK a “petrolhead” and he is besotted with his expensive possessions and hobby. But like everything else we own, he will be unable to take his belongings with him into Heaven, or wherever he will end up when he dies. No need for them in the afterlife! Our beautiful possessions, clothes and jewellery must be held in open hands, in the knowledge that one day they will pass on to someone else or, for most items, a rubbish heap. Jesus taught, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21). 

What do we pilgrims value in life? Our possessions will remain on Planet Earth when we die, so a relatively short term enjoyment will suddenly stop at a time coincident with our last breaths. But we have the opportunity to acquire Heavenly treasure, and this will be stored for us for a time when we can be reconciled with it. What is this treasure? We find it by reading the Bible. This Book, written by God, contains many nuggets that we can extract and apply to our lives. Perhaps a good place to start is in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” These are all Heavenly-bankable assets that will please God and are things that He sees are precious. As we develop this fruit in our lives, God sees a burgeoning inner beauty that pleases Him.

A fancy hairstyle is of no benefit in Heaven. We will receive a new body, and, presumably, a new hairstyle when we get to Heaven. But what will shine forth to God and others there is the “beauty that comes from within”. Heaven is a place where a different value system prevails.

Dear God. Heaven will be an amazing place for Your people to live in. We only get a glimpse through Scripture not what it will be like, but in Your presence we will have no fears. Amen.

God Judges

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”
1 Peter 2:23 NLT

Our judicial systems in the West are very much based on the principle that if someone commits a crime then they will be punished. Of course, not everyone is found out by the authorities and many escape justice, but those who are caught will find out that there are consequences. The principle of justice in the here and now started in the Garden when Adam and Eve were found out because of their sin. In Genesis 3 we read about the consequences of sin, and God pronounced judgement, starting with the snake, then Eve and finishing with Adam. And there was that poignant moment when we read that Adam and Eve had to be clothed in skins probably from animals they knew and loved. Sin is followed by consequences and it impacts others than just the miscreant. We know the story of Cain and Abel, which we can read in Genesis 4, where Cain killed Abel because of jealousy and had to face into consequences for his sin. 

The essence of the Jewish Law, given by God through Moses, was, amongst other things, to provide forgiveness for sins committed. But as we now know, this was only until Jesus came to take on the punishment we deserve for our sin. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian” (Galatians 3:24-25). And as we know, there is no purpose in keeping the Mosaic Law to achieve righteousness, because there is a better way. Referring to the Law’s adherents, Paul wrote in Romans 10:3-4, “For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God“. I have marked in my Bible the verses highlighting the Good News about Jesus, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord“. There will come a day when sin will have to be accounted for. Jesus suffered greatly here on earth, but He knew He could leave “his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly“. But in this life, in the here and now, there are many who seem totally ignorant of the fact that sooner or later they will have to face into the consequences of all the bad things they have done here on Planet Earth. We live in a moral universe and the scales of justice will be balanced, either in this life or the next. All those people who abused Jesus will find out the consequences of their sin. And that is why He knew that He didn’t have to retaliate, even though He could. He had the power at His fingertips because He was and is God.

We have to turn to Revelation 20 to find out when justice will finally be administered. And the sad thing is that many people, facing justice and punishment for their crimes in this life, will face it again because God will have the final word. And all those who think they have got away with their wrongdoings, will have a nasty shock. We have an opportunity in this life, through Jesus, to put right all the bad things we have done. But when we leave this life, the opportunity will leave with us. A sobering thought, particularly when we don’t know when we will draw our last breath.

But note what Peter wrote. He said God “always judges fairly”. We will only be judged for what we know. So, for example, those people who have never heard the Gospel won’t be judged as though they had.

We pilgrims know all of this, of course. We have embraced the Son and His redemption. We keep short accounts with God. We love Him and walk each day in gratitude for all He has done for us. And we reach out to those around us with the same redemptive message.

Dear God. Thank You for all You have done for us through Jesus. Amen.

Unjust Treatment

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.”
1 Peter 2:19-20 NLT

Have you ever noticed that people respond or react in a bad way when they are accused of something that is false, or when they experience an injustice? For example, if someone pushes in front of them at a supermarket checkout queue, or in roadworks on a motorway. A schoolchild accused of a misdemeanour that was not their fault, and so on. We could construct a list that is endless, because we have all experienced at one time or another an injustice at the hands of another person. So how do we respond in these circumstances? The natural reaction is to lash out, probably angrily. To push back against the accusing person, sometimes violently. This is how fights develop, especially when alcohol-fuelled. 

If the accusation is correct and we have been found out for a misdemeanour, then some form of punishment or correction might be justifiable. That is the basis of our justice system. So if we are caught speeding, then points on our licences and a fine are an apt punishment for the oversight, and will help us remember that there is such a thing as a speed limit. If a schoolchild is given a punishment exercise for not doing their homework then there can be no complaint. Peter wrote you “get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong”. In other words, God will just let things take their course. He will forgive a repentant sinner of course, but there may be consequences imposed by our earthly masters or authorities.

Peter wrote that “God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment”. Jesus, of course, taught exactly that. We read what He said in Matthew 5:39-42, “But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow”. And Jesus Himself exemplified His words, as we read in Matthew 26:67-68, “Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him, jeering, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?”” Jesus never reacted. He stood submissively enduring terrible abuse. But He was of course conscious of His Father’s will and acted accordingly. In fact He went even further, when, in terrible pain, He prayed for His executioners, as we read in Luke 23:34a, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing“.

We pilgrims will, I’m sure, never have to suffer as Jesus did. But we will be faced with many an injustice here on earth. Perhaps we need to remember those four letters WWJD – What Would Jesus Do. So before we let out a tirade of righteous anger, let’s pause a moment. Take a deep breath, and lift up our eyes to Heaven. And imagine how pleased God will be if we just turn away.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for such invaluable guidance. Please help us to live the way Your Son did. In His precious name. Amen.

Respect Everyone

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.”
1 Peter 2:17 NLT

There are four instructions in this short verse. Two refer to being respectful and the others to love and fear. So a lot to consider.

Respect is in short supply in society today. It seems that everyone has their own ideology or set of views and they insist that whatever they think is supported and affirmed to the detriment of everyone else. As an example, strident calls are being made about gender issues, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with the multi-gender adherents. Those who disagree are branded with all sorts of unpleasant and totally unfounded names. They are pilloried on social media and no-platformed in public speaking engagements. There are many other issues in which debate and mutual respect are denied. Perhaps the root cause is society’s abandonment of Christian teaching and rejection of God, with a new morality, false in its content, emerging to replace it. An anything-goes morality that is based on a form of self identification and a declaration that the person concerned is his or her own god. Scotland, where I live, has the reputation of being the most secular country in Europe, and we are starting to see the down side of that in the legislation being produced by confused and godless politicians. But where at one time people were respected for their views – not necessarily agreed with, but respected at least – now there is little or no acceptance of another’s views. Respect is a commodity in very short supply. 

Back in Exodus 20:12 we read, “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you”. Respect starts in the home by being implanted in children through good parenting, but with so many broken families, basic teaching like this doesn’t seem to count for much these days. And the lack of respect spills over into the classrooms, with teachers being abused just for trying to do their jobs, educating the next generation of adults in our societies. In Matthew 7:12, Jesus taught about the “Golden Rule”, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets”. 

Respect is based on grace. Our Heavenly Father has graciously accepted us pilgrims, warts and all. With all our funny ideas and sin-ridden ways, we can, through Jesus, approach His throne with boldness. He sees our struggles to make sense of a complex and evil world. He sees us agonising over the abuse of a child, or the ill-treatment of another human being. And we know that He is also saddened by the behaviour of mankind. But God had a plan and Jesus came for damaged and confused people, who were, as He said, like sheep without a shepherd. But we have a Shepherd now, and God’s plan is being worked out through His children, fellow pilgrims such as us.

Dear Father God. We are Your children, saved by grace. Please help us reach out to others, extending Your grace to those without. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Honourable Lives

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“It is God’s will that your honourable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.”
1 Peter 2:15 NLT

Society is full of people who make accusations. It seems that the minute someone behaves in a way that doesn’t fit with someone else’s opinion, then an accusation follows, whether to the police, or the council or the tax authorities or whoever. The great majority of accusations and allegations are of course totally groundless, but they are made all the same. Neighbours fall out because one accuses the other of failing to remove their weeds, or playing their music too loud. Accusations and complaints, one against another abound.

We have in the current times another insidious source of accusations. Certain ideologies are supported by people who think that everyone else should agree and support the way they feel or think, and if they don’t, then accusations of bias, hate or causing offence are made to whoever will listen. We can see that with the current fixations around sexuality and gender. For example, if a woman dares to put her head above the parapet and claim that toilet spaces should only be designated and used in accordance with a person’s biological sex then a storm of abuse and accusations erupt through social media and beyond, driven by the “keyboard warriors” who blight our society today.

But none of this was the focus of this verse in Peter’s first letter. The first century believers were accused of all sorts of things because they followed a faith different to everyone else. For example, there were accusations of cannibalism made against Christians because they shared the body and blood of Jesus in their communion services. A lack of understanding became inflated to a terrible result. There were also accusations of gross immorality made against believers because they were instructed to love one another. Again, misunderstandings were blown up out of all proportion. And then we have accusations around issues such as poverty, self-righteousness and so on. The list was seemingly endless.

Jesus Himself had accusations levelled against Him. We read in Luke 6:7, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath”. To His listeners, Jesus said, “The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results” (Matthew 11:19). But the greatest miscarriage of justice ever was carried out on Jesus even though He was not guilty of any crime, let alone one that deserved a capital punishment. We read in John 18:29, 38, “So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” …  “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime”. 

Accusations against the early Christians were commonplace. It was, and still is today, easy to make accusations based on half-truths and innuendo, assumptions and bigotry. Conspiracy theories were just as prevalent then as they are today. But Peter encouraged his readers with the truth that their “honourable lives” would silence the accusers. It would be difficult, he wrote, to make accusations against someone whose life was above reproach. We pilgrims today should also take heed and be careful that we live in a way that will silence any accusations by “ignorant people”. It’s a high bar to achieve, but one possible as we depend on the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance.

Dear Lord Jesus. You know at first hand the pain of false accusations. Please help us to respond in a way that shows the complainants a better way. In Your precious name. Amen.

Honourable Behaviour (1)

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbours. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honourable behaviour, and they will give honour to God when he judges the world.”
1 Peter 2:12 NLT

Imagine the following fictional scenario – a Christian family each Sunday walk out to their car in the drive, dressed in all their finery, carrying their Bibles, and drive off for church, returning just as immaculate a couple of hours of so later. There is the man and his wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. They are noticed by the neighbours each week, and their diligence in following their faith is well known in their community. But on a Friday night, the husband can perhaps be found in the local pub, cursing and swearing with the locals. The wife attends an activity group in the next village and is well known for her tendency to gossip. Well, these are exactly the sort of situations that we must guard against. Peter wrote, “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbours”. Living properly means we must behave in a way that corresponds to our faith.

Jesus was scathing about hypocrisy. He hated the behaviour of people who claimed to be holy and full of faith but who were full of lies and deceit inside. In Matthew 23 we read, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28). On my morning walk today, and after a very windy night, I came across a branch about a metre long and a few centimetres thick. Outside the branch looked all as it should be, bark intact and apparently healthy, but when I examined the inside at the point of breakage, it was rotten. I showed a dog walker and he reflected that it was a bit like society – looking good on the outside but rotten within. A cynical point of view, but perhaps he had a point. The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:20, “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see”? The Apostle James wrote in James 1:26, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless”. There are plenty of verses in the Bible about the way we should behave, internally and externally.

The duty of all believers is to “walk the walk” and “talk the talk”. In other words, we must behave in a way that coincides with our faith. And not just how we think God wants us to behave, but in a way that our neighbours think we should behave. As an example, it isn’t necessarily wrong to have a drink at a bar with our friends, but, perhaps for the sake of an alcoholic neighbour or workmate, it might be better to avoid doing that, or at least only drink something that is alcohol free. In James 1:22, we read, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves”. In other words, we must behave in a way that aligns with God’s Word, because that is the way He wants us to live and for the benefit of the “unbelieving neighbour” who lives next door. Our lives sometimes will be the only manifestation of the Gospel people will see. St Francis of Assisi is credited with the quotation, “Preach the gospel at all times. And if necessary, use words“. Perhaps a very valid point when we consider “honourable behaviour”.

Dear God. We are Your representatives here on Planet Earth. Please help us to live in an honourable way so that You get all the glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Spiritual Sacrifices

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 NLT

The Jewish religion was based on the sacrifice of animals and other items on the altars located firstly in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. Sacrifices were typically for an offering for sin, such as we read in Exodus 29:36a, “Each day you must sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering to purify them, making them right with the Lord … ”. But Jesus became an eternal sacrifice for all sins and His death on Calvary sealed the New Covenant between God and man. The prophet Jeremiah foretold of the New Covenant, as we read in Jeremiah 31:33, ““But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people””.

Just as the Old Testament priests were responsible for offering up sacrifices to God, we pilgrims of the new Covenant “offer spiritual sacrifices that please God”. So what are these “sacrifices”? One go-to Scripture is in Romans 12:1, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him”. Then we have the sacrifice of praise, as we read in Hebrews 13:15, “Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name”. In the Old Testament, incense was offered up as a sacrifice, and this is often associated with prayer. We read in Psalm 141:2, “Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering”. 

We pilgrims offer up sacrifices to God that consist of our prayers, praises, worship, our bodies – in fact everything we do we can turn into a sacrifice to God, as we do it in His name. That is what a living sacrifice is all about. We lay ourselves willingly on the altar before Him, remembering the words of the old hymn, “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee“.

Dear Lord. We offer up our sacrifices of praise today in deep gratitude for Your grace and love. Amen.

Being Born Again

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
1 Peter 1:23 NLT

We of course remember the conversation that took place between Jesus and Nicodemus, where Jesus said to him, “ … I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:5-7). Earlier in John 1:12-13, John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God”. So Peter reminded the early believers in the five provinces of their new state as God’s children, following their rebirth. 

Those early believers were facing into a perilous existence, with persecution even to the point of death not being uncommon. So the references to the new life in the Spirit was timely and encouraging. It gave them hope for the future, that regardless of what was going to happen to them, their lives would continue. So the new birth that Peter was writing about would not soon be extinguished. It would last forever. Because God said so though His “living word”, who, of course, was Jesus. He was and is the living Word, and though Him we have an eternal hope. We will move on from this life, whenever it will end, into a life spent in eternity. That life will never be under threat of extinction. There will be nothing that will take it away. Paul wrote at the end of Romans 8, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). That love of God, that did not even deny us salvation through His Son, Jesus, is eternal, never ending in its scope and accessibility.

Being born again is a spiritual state available to all. We pilgrims can look back to the time when we believed that Jesus died for us on the cross, that He came back to life from the grave, and provided the only way to Heaven. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“. We responded to that love and we’ll never regret it.

Dear Father. You loved us so much that You made a plan to redeem and save us. We will offer up our praise and worship to You for all eternity. Amen.