Through Faith
February 10,
2013
1 Peter 1:3-9
Now we live with great
expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in
heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And
through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this
salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be
truly glad. There is wonderful joy
ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is
genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith
is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through
many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when
Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see
him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible
joy. The reward for trusting him will be
the salvation of your souls.
Through faith we discover and priceless, pure, and eternal
inheritance protected by God. Through
faith, we can face trials and be made into stronger and better people because
of them. Through faith, we give glory,
honor, and praise to God. Through faith,
we find acceptance, purpose, and love.
Through faith, we discover an amazing joy that goes beyond our ability
to describe or even understand. The
miracle of salvation is discovered by those who are faithful. Faith is belief put into action. Faith depends on God. It trusts that which we have not seen and do
not see now.
Faith is not easy.
It is not casual. It is not
simple. Yet it is worth far more than we
can imagine. It is a gift we present to
our maker, savior, and Lord. If we were
to present this gift before the Lord right now, what would it look like? Would it be genuine, tested, and
purified? Or would it be dirty, ignored,
and unproven? Worse yet, would our faith
be mere words without substance? This is
cause for concern. God delights in the
faithful. If we desire the joy of the
Lord, we must keep the faith and live out what we believe. We have control over our faith. It takes a conscious choice to act in faith
and live faithfully. That choice needs
to be made daily. How much time,
thought, and effort do we put into faith?
What do we need to change?
No comments:
Post a Comment