Right focus
This week is on 1 Peter 1:13-16:
These are hard verses, even though they seem easy on the surface. Be holy and don't follow evil desires. Seems pretty straightforward, right? But which desires are evil? And what is holiness? That's where it gets difficult.
Peter, who knew a thing or two about a thing or two, tells us we should set our hope on the grace coming to us, with minds that are alert and fully sober. That's another way of saying "focus on this." Focus on the grace brought to us through Jesus' death. Even if everything else goes wrong in our lives, we should still be able to focus on that aspect of God's awesomeness. God will save us from our sins. We don't have to reap the consequences. Our position in the universe is fundamentally changed by that sacrifice. It is everything.
When are our minds alert and fully sober? If you're like me, you're constantly distracted. We have hopes and dreams, various physical and emotional needs, projects that may or may not go well, and health that can be a blessing or a curse. When our minds are intoxicated with worry, or ambition, or hopelessness, or anger, bitterness, pain, desire, or a need to be constantly entertained, are we really alert and fully sober? Is a man on guard duty effective if he's watching TV or Skypeing with his girlfriend? Can he detect the enemy in his camp if he's focusing on getting his taxes done, or putting in a granite counter top? Can someone drive safely while doing their nails or painting a picture?
We're constantly distracted. If the only thing we focus on is the distraction of the moment, we're really not going to live any differently from people who have never encountered Christ. How are we going to represent Christ to the world we live in if we live separately from him and value different things? We no longer live in ignorance. We know God exists. We know the universe is his. And we know that we have an extremely important role in it. We're here to love others and represent Christ to them.
That's not to say that we won't have needs and concerns in the world. Jesus ate. He slept. He did carpentry. He traveled from place to place. But his focus was on getting us to see the grace coming to us and the love he represented. He didn't spend all of his time teaching and performing miracles. But he didn't spend all of his time living life either.
Peter tells us to be holy like Jesus was holy. That doesn't mean never doing anything wrong, or only wearing nice clothes, or not saying cuss words. Holiness is a purity of purpose. Jesus was here to be Jesus. Peter was here to be Peter, pioneering a ministry to the Jews and Gentiles, performing miracles, etc. His food still had to come from somewhere. Someone had to make and mend his clothes. He still had to travel to get from place to place. He had a family to take care of. He still needed rest and recreation. But he was holy in the sense that the other things, the distractions, served to support his purpose in life.
How do we spend our time and resources? If we're taking care of earning money, building relationships, preparing food, and arranging for our other needs to be met, and we don't have time left for God, we're no longer holy. If it's more important to you to get plastic surgery or buy a vacation home than it is to help the needy, and you neglect the needy to make sure that happens, you're missing the point. If you have to keep up with that TV show you watch, and you never spend time encountering God or helping the people around you, how are you different from the rest of America? What are you representing at that point? The world you were brought up in? Or the world we're invited into with Christ?
Our resources are necessarily limited. We're finite. We live for a tiny amount of time. We're like fruit flies in the context of eternity. There's only so much money and food and property to go around. Given those limited resources, who gets the tie-breaker when there's a contest between what we know we should do and what we want for ourselves? Where is our treasure? If you haven't encountered God much, or haven't spent time in studying the Bible or going to church or helping the needy, ask yourself why? Where is your focus? Which activities in your life are the cart, and which are the horse?
When Christ takes hold of us, and we come to know him, the future opens up to us. We live in expectation of the day when we're assembled before him and are exempted from hell. Are our priorities anchored to that world, or to the world in which we permanently disappear after we die? Are we sober and alert, steering wheel in hand, with our eyes on the road? Or do we just veer from drive-thru to drive-thru until our gas runs out?
If God doesn't have a place in your daily life or your values, take time and give him that place. If you don't know where you're going, take time and find out. Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you eat? Why do you sleep? Why do you have the relationships you do? Why do you spend your time and money the way you do? Do you have an end result in mind? Focus yourself and be holy.
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
These are hard verses, even though they seem easy on the surface. Be holy and don't follow evil desires. Seems pretty straightforward, right? But which desires are evil? And what is holiness? That's where it gets difficult.
Peter, who knew a thing or two about a thing or two, tells us we should set our hope on the grace coming to us, with minds that are alert and fully sober. That's another way of saying "focus on this." Focus on the grace brought to us through Jesus' death. Even if everything else goes wrong in our lives, we should still be able to focus on that aspect of God's awesomeness. God will save us from our sins. We don't have to reap the consequences. Our position in the universe is fundamentally changed by that sacrifice. It is everything.
When are our minds alert and fully sober? If you're like me, you're constantly distracted. We have hopes and dreams, various physical and emotional needs, projects that may or may not go well, and health that can be a blessing or a curse. When our minds are intoxicated with worry, or ambition, or hopelessness, or anger, bitterness, pain, desire, or a need to be constantly entertained, are we really alert and fully sober? Is a man on guard duty effective if he's watching TV or Skypeing with his girlfriend? Can he detect the enemy in his camp if he's focusing on getting his taxes done, or putting in a granite counter top? Can someone drive safely while doing their nails or painting a picture?
We're constantly distracted. If the only thing we focus on is the distraction of the moment, we're really not going to live any differently from people who have never encountered Christ. How are we going to represent Christ to the world we live in if we live separately from him and value different things? We no longer live in ignorance. We know God exists. We know the universe is his. And we know that we have an extremely important role in it. We're here to love others and represent Christ to them.
That's not to say that we won't have needs and concerns in the world. Jesus ate. He slept. He did carpentry. He traveled from place to place. But his focus was on getting us to see the grace coming to us and the love he represented. He didn't spend all of his time teaching and performing miracles. But he didn't spend all of his time living life either.
Peter tells us to be holy like Jesus was holy. That doesn't mean never doing anything wrong, or only wearing nice clothes, or not saying cuss words. Holiness is a purity of purpose. Jesus was here to be Jesus. Peter was here to be Peter, pioneering a ministry to the Jews and Gentiles, performing miracles, etc. His food still had to come from somewhere. Someone had to make and mend his clothes. He still had to travel to get from place to place. He had a family to take care of. He still needed rest and recreation. But he was holy in the sense that the other things, the distractions, served to support his purpose in life.
How do we spend our time and resources? If we're taking care of earning money, building relationships, preparing food, and arranging for our other needs to be met, and we don't have time left for God, we're no longer holy. If it's more important to you to get plastic surgery or buy a vacation home than it is to help the needy, and you neglect the needy to make sure that happens, you're missing the point. If you have to keep up with that TV show you watch, and you never spend time encountering God or helping the people around you, how are you different from the rest of America? What are you representing at that point? The world you were brought up in? Or the world we're invited into with Christ?
Our resources are necessarily limited. We're finite. We live for a tiny amount of time. We're like fruit flies in the context of eternity. There's only so much money and food and property to go around. Given those limited resources, who gets the tie-breaker when there's a contest between what we know we should do and what we want for ourselves? Where is our treasure? If you haven't encountered God much, or haven't spent time in studying the Bible or going to church or helping the needy, ask yourself why? Where is your focus? Which activities in your life are the cart, and which are the horse?
When Christ takes hold of us, and we come to know him, the future opens up to us. We live in expectation of the day when we're assembled before him and are exempted from hell. Are our priorities anchored to that world, or to the world in which we permanently disappear after we die? Are we sober and alert, steering wheel in hand, with our eyes on the road? Or do we just veer from drive-thru to drive-thru until our gas runs out?
If God doesn't have a place in your daily life or your values, take time and give him that place. If you don't know where you're going, take time and find out. Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you eat? Why do you sleep? Why do you have the relationships you do? Why do you spend your time and money the way you do? Do you have an end result in mind? Focus yourself and be holy.
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