March 26, 2022
1 Peter 4:1-3 NIV
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.
CONSIDER THIS
It just leaps out at me today.
The rest of your earthly life.
The rest of my earthly life.
The rest of our earthly lives.
There is at least one thing that we who are reading this all have in common. We don’t know how long that will be—the rest of our earthly life. It’s fascinating how the last few days we have been talking about death, the grave, and walking through cemeteries. It makes sense we would now transition to talking about the rest of our earthly lives.
The text lays out two options:
As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
Will I live the rest of my earthly life “for evil human desires” or “for the will of God”?
Something in us wants to believe there is a third option; something in between. This is the great deception. This is why most people are not living the rest of their earthly lives for the will of God. Not many people would willingly identify themselves as living “for evil human desires.” Many, however, are not confident they are living “for the will of God.” In the end, however, there is only one reason a person would not be confident they are living “for the will of God.” The reason is their evil human desires. Isn’t any desire contrary to the will of God fairly considered an evil desire?
3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.
In other words, Peter urges, don’t waste your life. Let the past be in the past. Don’t spend another minute in regret. Precious time remains. Don’t waste it. Live for the will of God.
The rest of your earthly life.
The rest of my earthly life.
The rest of our earthly lives.
That begins now.
THE PRAYER
Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Thank you for what remains of the rest of my earthly life. Awaken me to the possibilities it holds. I want to live the rest of my earthly life for the will of God. Holy Spirit, empower me to rise above the evil desires that plague me. Even more shake me out of the slumber of my indifference. Praying in Jesus’ name, Amen.
THE QUESTION
Do you ever consider what could be possible with the rest of your earthly life if lived for the will of God?
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
3 Responses
The one thing that living through this last couple of years has taught me is that none of us can know with certainty just how long the rest of our earthly life remains. I’ve witnessed too many people taken away unexpectedly. It seems that the world we thought we knew has in many ways been revealed to be an illusion. Trust in most of our human institutions has been forfeited. This season has been a wake-up call for me. Many of my fellow believers are seeking ways to prepare for an uncertain political, social, and economic future. Honestly, I’m more concerned about an uncertain spiritual future where our faith will be severely tested. If the trajectory that this world continues to proceed that we are currently on; how many of us are truly prepared to remain faithful to God’s will?
This is amazing. I woke up this morning (having no idea what your blog would say today) with these thoughts on my mind. I posted them on Facebook 25 minutes ago:
My allegiance is to the living Jesus who captured my heart and filled me with love for Him and for all people. He now lives inside me to lead, guide, and empower me from within so that I can no longer obey my own desires, feelings, and opinions, but follow, obey, and adore Him instead.
Let me add some thoughts inspired by your post.
People in Western society are openly proclaiming their commitment to the dominance of their human desires and declaring them to be proper and righteous. They’re telling us that our desires are our reality and our identity and that they should be obeyed without guilt or shame. Human feelings, opinions, and desires are being exalted above the obvious reality of common sense and physiology. People are being encouraged to follow their desires instead of reason and logic, and to even demand that other people call them by pronouns that they have chosen to match their desires. Western society is even beginning to label Bible verses like 1 Peter 4:1-3 as “hate speech.”
No matter what feelings, opinions, or desires you personally are obeying instead of obeying the risen Jesus, you’re “living in sin.” You may say that He is your Lord, but if you are not obeying Him from your heart in both words and actions, you’re claim to be a disciple is skewed. Jesus calls us to self-denial–to die to our desires and to follow His instead. Any desire that leads you to disobey the will of God and put your will above His is sin. Christians are called to ignore the world (Western society) and be led by the Spirit, not by our feelings, desires, or opinions.
It’s easy to accuse others of their rebellion against God, while ignoring our own rebellion. “If my people who are called by My name will . . . turn from their wicked ways . . .” Anything that we think, believe, say, or do that is disobedient to God’s will is a “wicked way” and “an evil human desire.” “Search my heart, O God . . .”