SATURDAY, MARCH 2,
2013
30 Days to
Resurrection Sunday
1 Peter 1:18 “Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ…”
SCRIPTURE READING: 1 PETER 1:16-24
16 Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call
on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as
ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you,
21 Who by him do
believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your
faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away:
REFLECTION: Writing to Christians who were enduring “the
trial of their faith,” the Apostle Peter urges, “Be ye holy!” Anything less would not suffice. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” Only the “pure in heart shall see God.”
Throughout both of his letters, and here in our selected
reading, the Apostle defines what he means.
“Be ye holy” includes “obeying the truth through the Spirit.”
“Be ye holy” implies “unfeigned love of the brethren.”
“Be ye holy means, “loving one another with a pure heart
fervently.”
“Be ye holy,” induces us to “purify our souls.”
“Be ye holy” reminds us that we will one day stand before
an impartial Judge.
“Be ye holy” moves us to “spend the time of our
sojourning here with fear”—literally with the deepest respect and reverence of
the Holy God we serve.
Lest we become disheartened along the way, Peter reminds
us, “you were not redeemed with corruptible things.” Our souls were not rescued and redeemed from
our old life, that “vain conversation,” by the coin of this world. It was not silver that saved us. It was not gold that redeemed us. It was not anything that is corruptible, or
temporary, or of changing value in the markets of men, that has redeemed us.
No, we are redeemed with the “precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb without blemish and spot!”
Hallelujah! So then, honor His
blood, honor the Lamb of God, honor the Holy One by loving Him and living for
Him.
At the first Passover, as Moses led God’s people out of
Egyptian slavery, God’s people were instructed to sprinkle the blood of a lamb
on the posts and the lintel of the doors to their homes. When the death angel passed over the land
those who had obeyed would be spared, those who had not would suffer the death
of their firstborn.
Why was it that the blood was required at the top and on
the sides of the doors, but not on the threshold? The writer to the Hebrews
answers, “how much sorer punishment,
shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and
counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing?”
(Hebrews 10:29)
May God grant that we would never despise, disrespect, or
dishonor the “precious blood of Christ.”
God help us to live our lives honoring the sacrifice Christ has made for
us, by sacrificing our lives for Him.
PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father, We thank you for your
infinite love and the powerful, life-changing truth of your Word. What a mighty God we serve. We pray that today, and every day, we would
honor the precious blood of Jesus.
Remind us of the blood that dripped from your forehead in Gethsemane, of
the blood that you gave as the soldier’s whipped your precious body, of the
blood that trickled down your face as the crown of thorns was pressed into your
head, of the blood that poured from your hands and your feet as you hung on the
cross in our place. May we never get
over that scene. And may we always live
our lives in honor of that precious blood—the blood of our wonderful Lord, who
loved us, and gave himself for us, and in whose name we pray, Amen. “Our Father &c.”
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