Good Morning Friends,
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his
body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered
in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly
life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 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. … The end of all
things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can
pray.” (1 Peter 4:1-3; 7)
Do you remember what it was like before you
came to Christ? Do you remember the self-focus that dominated your thinking? Do
you remember how easy it was to give in to the temptations to sin? Do you
remember the ways you hurt yourself and hurt those around you with the sinful decisions
that you made?
All of us remember those things. All of us
have things in our past that we’d like to forget about and about which we are
not proud.
Thank God that He has done a work in our
lives to change us. It’s not that the work of God is finished. There are still
ways that we give in to the temptations to sin. Still, our lives are not characterized
by the same kind of wanton disregard for what pleases God that they were before
we came to Christ. Or, they shouldn’t be!
That’s Peter’s point! We have “spent enough
time” in sin. Isn’t that true? The memory of how empty giving ourselves to sin
made us feel should cause us to be more diligent and disciplined to rid our
lives of sinful choices. The memory of the guilt that plagued our spirit before
we came to Christ should prompt us to rely on God for victory over the
temptations we face today.
And here’s another reason to be more diligent
to move toward self-control – we don’t have that much time left! No one does. The end is near. No one who is
over 50 can possibly deny that fact. Life speeds by at such a pace that we
can’t believe it and the end is rushing toward us. The end of the world is also
rushing toward us. With each passing year the earth seems to grow more and more
depraved. Surely God will not allow this world to deteriorate much longer
before He calls it to its appointed end.
I know I’ve already spent enough time in sin
– haven’t you?
His, by Grace,
Steve
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