1 Peter 2:12
Welcome to a New Year on God’s Daytimer. The end of 2009 managed to keep me very busy and as a result I was not able to keep up with God’s Daytimer. However, with 2010 upon us, I am looking forward to getting the devotionals back up on a fairly regular basis (they might not be every day, but hopefully four or five a week). I hope to change up the format a little this year and try some new things as well a long the way.
To kick off 2010, I want to share with you a verse that I have been contemplating for the last couple of weeks:
1 Peter 2:12
12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
To get some context here are the verses around that verse:
1 Peter 2:9-17
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.Submission to Rulers and Masters 13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
It is the idea of “living good lives” that I keep thinking about. I am doing a series on it at our church right now (you can check it out at Internet Pastor Online). I like the idea of living life in such a way that not only does it impact us, it impacts the world around us. Start thinking about what “good lives” look like to you and I will add my two cents worth in over the next few days. If you are able, why not take a few minutes and use the Comment area to share what you think a good life means to you.
Be blessed and kept!
Filed Under: Online Bible Studies
God first everything else second.
Welcome back! I have missed you and this was the perfect way to begin again. I like to try (thank you, God, for your grace and mercy here!) to “walk” it out in my everyday life … the teachings of Jesus, that is. I believe that trusting God’s plan for my life allows me to stop “my” plan and reach out to someone in need, knowing that God has got me and in the long run, all will end up just the way that He has planned for it to. I think people need to “see” Christians doing Christ-like things in order for them to be drawn to Jesus. For many, we are the only Bible they will ever read … and in doing everything “as unto the Lord”, we are glorifying God.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Welcome back. Living a good life to me is summed up in one word: LOVE. Loving others as I would like to be loved. It means doing and being everything 1 corinthians 13 says love is. It means not repaying evil with evil. It means praying for those who have hurt me. It means not putting myself first but being willing to be last. It means saying “I’m sorry” or “I was wrong”. Living a good life is never failing to give back the grace and mercy I have been so readily given and shown.
Thanks for your comment. It fits in well with the next devotional!
Glad to see you back! I’m commenting on 1Peter 2:12. I believe living the “good life” is obeying 1 Cor. 13:4-8a – to be kind, loving, not letting things get the best of you. Praying to be a blessing to others. To imitate Jesus here and now. To forget self and seek to help others, to let your life show how you live. To be the same behind closed doors as in public. To see others as God sees them and to believe something good in everyone. To reach out and lift others up, saying a kind word or just a touch to let someone know you care and so does our Father. Just love!