A Devotional for the Day.....

I received another powerful devotional passed on to me today, so of course I wanted to share it with you.....

Saturday, January 30, 2010
Read: 1 Peter 2:18-25
TODAY IN THE WORD
Fyodor Dostoevsky was imprisoned for the kind of thinking that made his writing so famous and so wonderful. His crime was adopting a mindset that differed from the reigning regime, and the initial sentence was death. As he stood with his compatriots before a firing squad, his sentence was commuted to four years in Siberian exile. He didn’t view his trials as inherently negative but a necessary part of the human experience. He wrote, “On our earth we can truly love only with suffering and through suffering! We know not how to love otherwise.”

All the crimes through the ages, every infraction we’ve studied so far, converged on a moment of ultimate suffering in the body of the only truly innocent man who ever lived—and His suffering is our definition of love. Today’s passage is filled with both theological substance and emotional truth. Verse 24 is a compact dissertation on the power of the crucifixion and the purpose of the Christian life. We sinned; His body absorbed the punishment. He was wounded; we were healed. He died for our sins; we die to sin and live for righteousness.
But this passage also represents a shift in logic from what we’ve come to understand. An overarching theme of this study has been that disobedience results in punishment, suffering, fear, etc., and that obedience results in blessing. But Peter draws our attention to a different focus. In Christ, obedience involves sharing in the sufferings of Christ. We aren’t called to go out of our way to bring punishment on ourselves (v. 20). But we shouldn’t be surprised if doing good results in pain.

The final point in today’s reading reminds us that the question of sin and obedience, crime and punishment is not simply a matter of following the rules—it’s a relationship between us and our Father, like sheep returning to the Shepherd. As Peter wrote, He is the Overseer of our souls, and His suffering brought us back into a right relationship with Him. There is no greater love than that.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY
You may not feel like you live in a society where doing the right thing results in suffering, and that is true to a certain extent. We may not face legal penalties for exercising our faith, but being true to Christ could cost you in the court of popularity. We don’t often have to fear what others will do to us because of our faith, but what they think of us can feel equally damaging. Keep in mind that your relationship with God involves obeying His Word and sharing in His suffering. Don’t be afraid to do either.
2010 Copyright Moody Bible Institute • http://www.todayintheword.org/

(*Thanks again Pastor Roman)