Regardless of what we may be experiencing now in our life; regardless of the state of the economy; regardless of the personal trials we face, one great reality exists: We, as born again ones, are living in light of eternity.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy made our lives begin all over again, and who through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead gave us a living hope, and the certainty that one day we will enter into that immortal, undefiled and unfading life which he promised to you, and which he is keeping in heaven for you. Your faith has made the power of God the guardian of your lives, until you reach that salvation which will burst upon the world, when time comes to an end. You must rejoice in all this, even if at the moment you are involved in a situation in which you are bound to be distressed by all kinds of troubles. Even gold which has stood the test of the refiner’s fire perishes in the end. But the purpose of all this is that you emerge with a tried and tested faith, which is more valuable than gold, for such a faith will find praise and glory and honor, when Jesus Christ dawns upon the world again. You have never seen him, yet you love him. You do not see him now, yet you believe in him, and your faith makes you rejoice with a joy which is beyond words to tell, and which is tinged with glory. And the secret of your joy is that, as the final result of your faith, you are on the way to receiving the salvation of your souls.
So then your minds must be stripped for action. You must live soberly. You must set all your hope on the grace which is coming to you when Jesus Christ will appear again. You must live like obedient children, and you must not allowe your lives to be shaped by the influence of the passions which used to dominate you in the days of your ignorance. So far from that, you must show yourselves holy in all your conduct, as he who called you is holy, for it stands written: “You must be holy, because I am holy.”
I Peter 1:3-9, 13-16
William Barclay Translation
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