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#TuesdayDevotion: 1 Peter 4:1-10

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 #TuesdayDevotion: 1 Peter 4:1-10

Date: 24 November 2020

As Christians, we often find it difficult to avoid evil human desires and to live in a way pleasing to God. We often feel the tension between living an earthly life and a Godly life. How do we overcome this? As I meditate on this passage. There are a couple of things that I stood out for me: Jesus’s attitude going towards the cross was one of submission. Verse 1 tells us to “arm ourselves with the same attitude because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin”.  Verse 2 tells us we are to live a life of submission to the will of God and if we do, we will avoid evil human desires. But we struggle with submission, let just think about submitting to authority: your parents, your teachers and your bosses. Is it easy? The answer is no. However, as Christians, through renewing of our mind through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can submit to God’s will. The Christian idea of submission is not one of coercion but out of our love for Christ and our gratitude for his gift of salvation. Living a life of submission also means we must be focused and committed to do all things pleasing to God. In Jesus’ ministry, he was committed even to his death on the cross and he lived a life showing submission to the will of the Father. We submit and obey because Jesus submitted himself to our Heavenly Father for our sake. He laid down his life for us so that we can enjoy a relationship with Him.

Second thing that occurred to me was the seriousness of sin that Jesus Christ had to pay an awful price so set us free from the bondage of sin. Jesus "died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Throughout the Bible, sin is mentioned so many times and the Bible has warned us that the punishment is death (Romans 6:23). Sin can simply mean anything that takes the place of God in our lives. Money, power, lust and pride to name a few are somethings that ‘knock’ God off his rightly throne in our lives. Those who live a life of sin must face the reality that one day, we will be called to account to God. But thankfully, those who are in Christ are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life victorious over sin. Our sinful nature has passed away though we will still have sinful habits in which we have to be aware of. We live in appreciation focusing on the gift of righteousness given by God. Hebrews 12:1-2, it tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Those who fix their eyes on Jesus, will be occupied by His Word, His Ways and purposes.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, teach me to be submissive and obey Your will. Help me through the process of surrendering my all to you so that my life will be pleasing to you. Give me a heart that is open to receive and ears to hear from Your Word. Holy Spirit, strengthen me to defeat any areas of sin I may have. Amen

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