“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, though the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all it’s glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
I Peter 1:22-25 ESV
During this season of life, I find myself captivated by simple thoughts and comparisons. Is it this way or that way? Do I serve this thing or that thing? Should I think about this way of life or that way of life? Is this story about one thing or is it about something entirely different that I have yet to think of?
As I read this passage, my comparison thought was this, am I a man of obedience or of acceptance? My initial answer is that I’m a man of both but after thinking about it more, I’ve come to realize that while I may be a man of acceptance, I ultimately want to become a man of obedience. Allow me to explain.
I’m a man who has accepted certain things in my life. I’ve accepted that there are certain things in life that I will never have the chance to do. I’ve accepted that I will not know everything in life. I’ve accepted that there are certain gifts and abilities that I have that other people are either far better at or far worse at.
On a spiritual level, I’ve accepted that God is going to be God and that He is going to do God things that I may or may not ever understand. I’ve accepted that the only way for me to be in relationship with God is by accepting the blood sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ, for my sins. I’ve accepted that the very best way for me to be in relationship with God is by communicating with Him through times of prayer and meditation and allowing Him to communicate with me through His word and the people and resources that He places in my life.
These are the things that I’ve accepted and as I reread them, I can’t see anything wrong with them. The problem that I have though is that I’m not sure that God ever intended for us to simply live a life of acceptance. I believe that God intended for us to live a life of obedience that far outshines any life of acceptance that we could imagine.
When we understand that God has called us to a life of obedience then we understand that acceptance is only the first step in that life. If this is true, then it seems that while we will continually be both accepting and obedient, our ultimate desire is to move from acceptance to obedience.
That puts I Peter 1:22-25 in a much clearer perspective. It is not enough to accept that we are to love one another, we must purify our souls by being obedient to God’s truth so that we can be sincere in our love for others. It’s more than just accepting a truth, it’s about being obedient and working to embody that truth in an obedient, God-honoring manner.
How does that look in real life? How about this:
1. I can donate some canned goods at my church for the local food bank or I can contact the food bank myself and find ways to serve that community.
2. I can agree that something must be done about human trafficking or I can actively seek out ways and means that can be used to fight this travesty.
3. I can accept that our political system is corrupt and complain about it to everyone within earshot and keystroke or I can humble my heart and ask God to heal our land and provide us with men and women who will make wise decisions for our country.
When we move past accepting life as it is and move towards a life of obedience to the living God, we move from the shallow end to the deep end of the pool. That’s important because everyone who’s ever been to a public swimming pool knows that it’s in the deep end of the pool where you can have the most fun!
So, are you accepting your life or are you being obedient with your life?
