Sunday 29 April, 2018

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

I love how God, in all His amazing glory & power, chooses to partner with us to see His plans come to pass. Reading this passage, I’m reminded again that God desires to work in us and through us so that we get to be a part of all that He is doing. Verses 3 & 4 show that God provides us with His divine power & that His desire for partnership with us isn’t because of what we can do for Him, but because He wants to include us in His abundant goodness & grace. What an honour!

There is however, a call on our end to respond. We need to respond to the honour of God’s call by living as Peter writes in verses 5-7. This means never taking for granted that we have been cleansed from our sins not just for our own sake but so that we can walk alongside God to bring Him glory in the way we live.

God, you are so good to us! You don’t just save us & then leave us – you include us in your great plans & give us purpose! Help us to choose to walk alongside you and to live as you would desire us to so that we can honour the call & purpose you have for each of us and bring glory to you.

Written by Ps. Madelaine Tarasenko