“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” 1 Peter 1:17
Most every place you look you will see judging happening. Most often it is judging one person or thing against another. All over the television you see various talent shows with people competing against each other. In the end there is only one winner. That one person is judged up against all the others as being the best.
God, however, does not judge you up against someone else. He judges you according to Himself and what you know and can do. Every person is an individual with unique capabilities that only he has. Those capabilities are what God is judging. Everyone can be a winner with God. There is no “one winner” only.
Peter tells you here to live out your life in reverent fear. Are you living according to the standard you have learned from God? In 1 Peter 1:16, Peter writes that God said to be holy…are you being holy? This reverent fear is not the type of fear you get watching a scary movie. It is living with a realization that God is the judge and will judge you according to what you do or do not do and how and why you do it.
God did something He did not have to do…He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for you. He provided salvation for you. The least you can do for Him is live for Him. When you work are you doing your best? Why are you working hard to be the best: to look good or to bring honor to God? Are you working hard to get ahead in life or to build God’s kingdom more?
Every action you do is looked at by God. He determines the motive behind the action. You are a foreigner in this world when you are living for God. Heaven is ultimately your home. God made this world, it is His. Live with respect for God, His ways and rules. Live your life knowing that God is in control of everything and knows what is best for your life. Do not live your life for yourself. You can gain the whole world but lose your soul living that way.
I pray that today God will strengthen you to live for Him; that God will guide you in all you should say and do; that you will have a reverent fear of God; that you will trust God in everything; and that God will help you be holy as He is holy.
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