Scripture text for Wednesday, May 12th, 2010: Peter 1:1 – 2:12
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We put a new roof on our house a few years back and right away the first time I cleaned out the gutters I could see that gravel from the new roofing tiles was coming off the tiles into the gutter – it was wearing out bit by bit from day one! Similarly, the previous owners of the house had installed new siding on the garage. It looked great when we bought the house, but now it has tears in a few places and is bent in others. You get the idea – everywhere I turn I see a house that is degrading! What is more, everywhere you and I look around us we see the same thing from our houses to our cars to our very bodies. You may be wondering when and if I can find a way to make this a bit more positive … this is where the text comes in. Peter describes “an inheritance that can never spoil or perish” (v. 4). I think this is actually hard for us to fully comprehend since nothing in this world functions in this way.
The word “inheritance” is beautiful as well. It calls to mind the fantasy I am guessing many of us have had of learning that we had a long, lost “rich” relative who bequeathed us a large sum of money or a valuable set of stock shares and it just lands in our laps one day. Our salvation is clearly parallel to this in that we did nothing to achieve it. It is a straight-out gift, like an inheritance.
Finally the text does not leave us in this place of simply “splashing the bubbles in the bathtub of joy” regarding our inheritance, but rather at the end of the chapter we are reminded of the tremendous price that was paid for it, “the precious blood of Christ,” and so we are called to live in keeping with this and with Him, to be holy as He is holy. It is the familiar motivation of gratitude that calls us to live, by His spirit, beyond what we would otherwise, and to seek righteousness in every area of our lives and in every relationship.
Our inheritance is exorbitant and our lives are to be extraordinary. High cost, high calling.
Devotion prepared by Dave Timmerman
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