04-18-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
April 18, 2021
Scripture: 1st Peter 1:14-15
Don’t be conformed to your former desires, those that shaped you when you were ignorant. But, as obedient children, you must be holy in every aspect of your lives, just as the one who called you is holy.

Thought for the Day: Whenever the scriptures use words like ‘every,’ I find myself getting nervous. I wish it read: often, frequent or pretty consistent. Yet in this passage we read the high calling of being holy in every aspect of life. That’s more than challenging. Yet there is another word that will be important in this morning’s sermon. It is the word, ‘conform,’ which basically means: to fashion or form alongside something. We take on the shape of something, and in this case, it is our former desires that shaped us when we were ignorant. Some more harsh language from 1st Peter. We so often become conformed to something that does not represent what we see in Jesus, and we find it challenging to break from it as if somehow we not only conformed to it but allowed ourselves to solidify in that shape. If as followers of Jesus we are to look like Jesus, we probably should be working to conform ourselves to Jesus. Let us stretch ourselves in this work.

Prayer: This is tough, Lord God, yet you call us to the tough stuff of faith. In your grace, let us continue to push and stretch ourselves toward the holy calling being put before us. Amen.

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