Sunday: July 22, 2012: Grace Means Submission

READ: 1Peter 2

BACKGROUND: In this chapter Peter talks about what it looks like to be obedient.

By Verse:

2 – A proper diet of God’s Word allows Christians to put aside all of the things listed in verse 1.

5 – Living stones seems like an odd phrase, but Peter is saying that we are all parts of the church – we’re the stones that build it – but we aren’t designed to just sit there as thought we are a part of a wall. We’re meant – as the church – to go out and be God’s witnesses.

6 – From Isaiah 28:16

7 – From Psalm 118:22

9 – From Isaiah 43:20, Isaiah 61:6, & Exodus 19:5-6

10 – From Hosea 1:10

12 – If we live the way God calls us to it will serve as a powerful witness to an unbelieving world, even if they don’t want to live the same way.

16 – I love this verse. The Cross sets us free! But we shouldn’t use that freedom to sin. Instead we should use it to be bondslaves of God!

22 – From Isaiah 59:3

THINK: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…” – 1Peter 2:2

The imagery of a baby wanting milk is a really cool illustration by Peter, but it’s easy to miss the full weight of it. Babies are so cute and little that when we read these words – at least when I do – the first image that comes to mind is a cute little sleeping newborn baby. But Peter isn’t telling us to sleep like babies. He is telling us to crave milk like babies. And I can tell you as the parent of a 6 month-old baby that this is an entirely different image. It isn’t a precious sleeping baby. It is a red-faced, screaming at the top of the lungs, inconsolable, little bundle of anger that will not stop or be satisfied until it has milk. Babies, even if it’s unconscious, know that they need milk to survive. And they crave it with such a deep desire that absolutely nothing else in the world will satisfy them. And they use every resource available to them – namely screaming – to get it.

Do we long for the Word of God like that? That’s a rhetorical question. But here’s the thing: WE SHOULD! Just like a baby needs milk to survive and to grow, we need God’s Word and teaching and fellowship – pure spiritual milk – so that our faith can survive and grow. 1Peter 2 tells us that we are a chosen people and a royal priesthood, and it is very clear that if we are going to be the people whom God has designed and called us to be then we need to be intentional about feeding our souls so that we can grow. We cannot be indifferent to it any longer. We can’t push it down the priority list any longer. That simply isn’t an option! Peter observes that some people rest in their salvation, that they take it lightly and use it as a license to live half-hearted lives of faith where they sin. He urges us instead to commit to being bondslaves of God – submitted completely to his will – whose very lives are defined by pursuing him with every resource available to us.

ASK: If I’m honest, where does God fit in on my priority list? What might my life look like if I craved pure spiritual milk, if I pursued God with everything I had? What changes do I need to make in order for that to happen?

PRAY:  Confess that God hasn’t always been at the top of your priority list. Ask his forgiveness for taking your salvation and your faith lightly. Commit yourself to pursuing God, and ask him to provide you with the spiritual milk you need to grow.