Day at the Races: The First Turn! — Thursday
1 Peter 5:10
In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. (NLT)
Have you ever had a very specific role to fill that was seemingly someone else’s intention for you? Maybe you were forced into certain sports by your parents because they preferred them, or worse, they previously played them and wanted to live vicariously through you. I’ll never forget when I refereed soccer for a local organization. I lasted for one season, and despite the name of the organization having something to do with being 3rd, I often felt that the coaches and parents ranked themselves very high, and ranked me very low. I mean, I understand that your 2nd grader’s entire athletic career will be defined by this game that is essentially a mosh pit with a ball sometimes involved, but sheesh.
How often do we ignore the parts of the Bible that we don’t like? I don’t mean the parts that conflict with our lifestyle or our sinful behavior—we’ve already touched on that this week. I’m talking about the parts that are actually really important, positive, and—frankly—unbelievable. Throughout the Bible, we are referred to as God’s sons and daughters, His chosen, His prize. Yet we ignore these sentiments, just as much as Paul assumed Timothy would when he tells Timothy to hold tight to the eternal life to which God has called him (1 Timothy 6:12).
Let this sink in (I know I need to basically every day): God wants us to believe and live as though eternal life is the prize we will find at the end of our life. We are to actually live like this earth is where we “suffer a little while” before we are restored, supported, strengthened, and placed on His firm foundation. We are called to share in His eternal glory. Could you imagine if we lived that way, and actually believed that reward was intended for us? God has already stated it numerous times and in so many ways. He sent his Son to die on the cross to make it be a reality for us, yet we pridefully believe we can mess up enough to outweigh God’s forgiveness. We aren’t that good at messing up.
Thursday’s Reflection
What do you need to do to start believing who God says you are? How can you move closer to accepting the identity-defining commands of the Bible instead of assuming they’re meant for someone else?
