March 15, 2017 KEEPING SOBER IN SPIRIT
1 Peter 1:13,17: “Therefore gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;
What is it that motivates us in life? Many are motivated by what is purely temporal, whether it be financial gain, recreation, sports, status or position in life, reputation, personal appearance, etc. Certainly, none of these temporal things are evil in and of themselves, but when they become the motivation in our life, we are in conflict with the gospel of the kingdom. It is critical that we live with the big picture always in our mind, and that is that we have been redeemed and purchased by the precious blood of Jesus, we belong to Him, and He is coming back for us. Peter tells us to fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us when He returns. Even now, Jesus has been revealed and has extended grace to us and we are blessed by His presence in us-but there is more to come! It is in keeping with the gospel to know and enjoy Him now, and at the same time be looking for, and expecting His return. Realizing that He could come at any minute should serve as motivation for us to live our lives in such a way that He finds us ready for His return. The sobering truth is that God will judge each man’s work, including believers, and because of that, Peter says to “conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth.” This fear is not a fear of God that makes us ‘afraid’ of God, because God is a God of love who gave His Son to die in our place. The fear we are to have is a healthy fear that is born out of the fact that it is possible for a believer to live a life on earth that is not pleasing to the Father, and at His coming, his life will be exposed. I realize that this may sound legalistic to some, but even though we are righteous in Him and accepted in Him because of His grace and not because of our good works, we are accountable for the life we live as believers. Realizing that God will judge each man’s work when He returns, should without a doubt cause us to be sober in spirit. By being sober in spirit, and by fixing our hope completely on His return, we will be ready when He comes and we will be rewarded by Him! In light of this sobering truth, let us ‘gird our minds’ for action; let us live in such a way that we will welcome His soon return.
2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we all must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
1 Timothy 6:11: “But you, man of God, flee from all of this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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