Terry Ulm, Shepherd
Terry has the gift of teaching and encourages us each week, around Thursday, with gleanings from his study and time with the Word.
Everything We Need
Packing for an extended trip can be difficult. Like three weeks in Florida. The right apparel for the beach. Proper attire for going out to eat, attending an event, or meeting with friends. The comfortable stuff for lounging around in the evening. Clothes fitting for warm and chilly weather. It is January after all! Tooth paste, tooth brush, shampoo, shaving stuff, and deodorant. Don’t forget to stuff a bag with movies that you don’t get time to watch at home. Pack snacks and drinks for the long drive. Credit card for gas and unexpected expenses. Oh, and cash! Plenty of cash! When all is packed and in the car, there is one last, “Did we forget anything?” and, “Do we have everything we need?”
“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. 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.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV, underline mine)
Perhaps packing for an extended trip is not the most important “everything we need” question we should ask ourselves. The central focus of life is not an extended trip, to Florida or anywhere else. It is not what we do for a living. It is not our families, immediate or extended. It is not the church. The most important item for my agenda today is not mowing the lawn. The central focus, the most important agenda item for today, is a godly life. It is the central focus for every day. From this central focus life takes root and all else flows from it.
Peter tells us that the God of Grace and Peace has given us everything we need for a godly life. Everything we need to participate in the divine nature (think on that for a season). Everything we need to escape the corruption in the world. This central focus empowers us to be godly men and women in the midst of a corrupt world. To be a strong family when families all around us are falling apart. To be a person of Christ-like integrity in the workplace, giving honor and respect to our superiors, and treating peers and subordinates in the way we want to be treated. Being the presence of Christ in the world instead of the church enclosed behind stained-glass windows. Being those who love God, neighbor, and one another as Christ loved us. Being those who “take care of widows and orphans in their distress and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.” Peter adds:
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 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” (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Everything we need for a godly life. But we don’t get there without participation. We must set out on a life-long journey. An extended trip of growing, of “making every effort to add” in “increasing measure” to our faith. From goodness to love, and everything in between. Then we will be effective and productive in the knowledge of our Lord. In our families. In our marketplaces and workplaces. As the “presence of Christ” in the world. We will have everything we need.
June 7, 2018
Packing for an extended trip can be difficult. Like three weeks in Florida. The right apparel for the beach. Proper attire for going out to eat, attending an event, or meeting with friends. The comfortable stuff for lounging around in the evening. Clothes fitting for warm and chilly weather. It is January after all! Tooth paste, tooth brush, shampoo, shaving stuff, and deodorant. Don’t forget to stuff a bag with movies that you don’t get time to watch at home. Pack snacks and drinks for the long drive. Credit card for gas and unexpected expenses. Oh, and cash! Plenty of cash! When all is packed and in the car, there is one last, “Did we forget anything?” and, “Do we have everything we need?”
“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. 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.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV, underline mine)
Perhaps packing for an extended trip is not the most important “everything we need” question we should ask ourselves. The central focus of life is not an extended trip, to Florida or anywhere else. It is not what we do for a living. It is not our families, immediate or extended. It is not the church. The most important item for my agenda today is not mowing the lawn. The central focus, the most important agenda item for today, is a godly life. It is the central focus for every day. From this central focus life takes root and all else flows from it.
Peter tells us that the God of Grace and Peace has given us everything we need for a godly life. Everything we need to participate in the divine nature (think on that for a season). Everything we need to escape the corruption in the world. This central focus empowers us to be godly men and women in the midst of a corrupt world. To be a strong family when families all around us are falling apart. To be a person of Christ-like integrity in the workplace, giving honor and respect to our superiors, and treating peers and subordinates in the way we want to be treated. Being the presence of Christ in the world instead of the church enclosed behind stained-glass windows. Being those who love God, neighbor, and one another as Christ loved us. Being those who “take care of widows and orphans in their distress and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.” Peter adds:
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 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” (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Everything we need for a godly life. But we don’t get there without participation. We must set out on a life-long journey. An extended trip of growing, of “making every effort to add” in “increasing measure” to our faith. From goodness to love, and everything in between. Then we will be effective and productive in the knowledge of our Lord. In our families. In our marketplaces and workplaces. As the “presence of Christ” in the world. We will have everything we need.
June 7, 2018
