Non-Slip Faith
There are shoes that you can buy that have the “non-slip” identity. That means when you walk on a slippery surface, they are more likely to grip and not slip and cause you to fall. I know “deck shoes” have the kind of rubber sole that continues to grip when the surface is wet or slippery and their name alone shows why they would be the best shoes to wear when moving around on a boat. Even with those types of shoes, it is still possible to slip from time to time.
Life can be slippery as we go from day to day trying to live a life that honors God. Our daily Christian walk is one of many pitfalls and rough patches that at times can trip us up or make us slip. Peter in 1 Peter 1 gives a call to holy living that is unparalleled and his words of encouragement and challenge are meant to keep us moving to a closer, and more holy life. Here is what he wrote in verses 13-16 13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
He calls us to be holy as God is holy. A tall order for fallen people and it bears in mind the constant draw from the natural man we were before Jesus. Peter is calling all who know Christ to be more “spiritual” and less “worldly” in our thinking. If we are worldly in our thinking about things of God, we will not see the growth toward holiness that God wants in our lives. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 2:14 Paul wrote 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Many times we may be scared to immerse ourselves into thinking from a Spiritual perspective because of the misrepresentation we have seen about spiritual things from the world. It is important to live our lives according to the Spirit of God and we should never shy away from that kind of living. In fact, that is where we really come alive if Jesus is in our heart. Without the Spirit, we cannot discern the way to live, and we fall. miserably short of where we need to be.
When Peter says to prepare our minds for action and exercise self-control he is calling us to immerse ourselves in this salvation life. We are called to be satisfied in the life that God is building in each of us and that is where we find our Christ-centered identity. We come to a realization of the truths of God in a whole new light and now “we know!” Verse 14 says 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. We truly “know better” when we sell out to Christ and His Lordship takes over. That is when Jesus becomes our non-slip Savior and we begin to distance ourselves from past haunts and habits. Little by little God does a complete change in our heart and we become more “holy.” See how all of this makes sense? God’s Word is awesome!!!
And then Peter puts a wonderful exclamation point on the whole thing in verses 23-25 where he says 23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. 25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.” So if anyone asks you what it means to be born again. There it is!!
Non-slip life begins and ends with Jesus. A holy life that is pleasing to God the Father is a life that is found living in the Spirit.
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren