Daily Reading
Reflection
With minds alert and fully engaged, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus returns. 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. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy."
(A translation by N.T. Wright)
This letter is a call to holiness, shaped for those who first received it. Peter assumed his audience had a former way of living—a life of pleasure-seeking, often accompanied by greed, immorality, and self-gratification at the expense of others.
The Bible does not condemn pleasure in and of itself. Pleasure belongs to human experience and is something good. But when the pursuit of pleasure obscures reality and relationship and brings pain and disadvantage to others, it is a distortion of what it means to be human. The Bible says that this self-focused life is not pursued necessarily from malicious motives, but from ignorance. Peter describes it as "your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires."
So how are we to be holy in everything we do, as this passage teaches? The solution is not to find the holiness button, a holy "to-do" list, or even a Holy Grail. Holiness is the state of being in fellowship with Jesus and community. To paraphrase Andrew Murray; the secret of holiness is found in community.
Spiritual transformation happens in the process of relationship with God and with the people of God. A business consultant with a reputation for creating near-zero defect manufacturing processes said, "I am not nearly concerned as much about the product as the process." Zero-defect spirituality is a pretty tall order, and I don't think Peter is calling us to a perfect life, but he is asking a very important question to those who want to follow Jesus. Do you want a God-shaped life? If so, do as Eugene Peterson writes in his translation of this passage: "Let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness."
Daily Worship Resources
Daily Office Readings come from the Book of Common Prayer, a schedule of daily Bible reading that accords with the Church year. These readings are great worship resources for personal, family, or group use. Use it along with your City Church Worship Folder as a resource for readings, prayers, and hymns.
Printable Devotion