By Mike Friesz
Begin the year with a question. Is God good? Is He good to your family? To your church family? In your life?
Many preachers ask their conversation to respond to a statement saying, “God is good…” and anticipating the congregation to respond, “All the time.” And then they say, “And all the time” expecting the response, “God is good.”
I begin the year with a challenge. Hear the words of Luke about the Berean church
Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. [1]
Can we say that these characteristics describe us? Are we truly examining the word of God every day, checking it to see if it is being properly interpreted? Unfortunately, for most Christians that is not true.
The Barna Institute conducts multiple studies in the use of God’s Word. One such study reveals that nearly half of believers are disengaged from the Bible. This yearly study, authorized by the Bible Society shows that in some respects there is progress in the use of the word. Despite the gains there is still a problem.
Additional insights are gained from another study.
Younger generations see the Bible as increasingly less sacred. Only 2 in 3 Mosaics consider the Bible as sacred.
With each passing generation people consider the Bible less accurate. More and more people believe the Bible is not accurate. In addition, more people believe the Bible to be on the same level as other religious books. Robbed of its unique power the word of God loses its power to transform lives. It is little wonder that people are disengaged.
There is hope. The younger generations may not have deep convictions about the authority and strength of Scripture, but they do express a desire to grow in the word. There is a hunger for people.
Seeing these results my desire was to share a passage from Peter’s first letter. I planned to challenge you with Peter’s words in 1 Peter 2:1-3. That passage is convicting enough, however the passage begins with “therefore” which challenges us to consider the context. Reading the fuller passage results in three unique challenges for the year.
I Peter 1:22 says Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” t And this is the word that was preached to you.
Peter gives us our first challenge: to love sincerely. A great way to start the year is to remind ourselves that we are to have a deep, unfeigned love for our brothers and sisters. Peter’s language is rich and powerful.
We are to have a genuine, mutual love. He uses the word for love (agape) that speaks of a selfless, intense love. This kind of love would express itself without any expectation of return. We are to love fervently and sincerely.
Peter expects believers to be filled with love. He then proceeds to give three reasons for this love:
First, we are to love because we are born again. We have the same family. When we become Christians, we are adopted into the family of God. He is our Father. Any new believer is also adopted. The result is that we are family members. They are our brothers and sisters. We are family. How can we not love one another.
Second, we love because we have the same seed in us. His imperishable seed is in us. It will grow up until we are welcomed into our heavenly home. The seed that is growing in us is also growing in our brothers and sisters.
Finally, we are strengthened and inspired by the perfect Word of God. We have the living and enduring word of God as both our subject and our encouragement. Peter quotes Isaiah 40:8 to remind us that while everything around us fades, God’s word endures.
Peter’s second challenge lays the foundation for spiritual growth. To grow we must eliminate some things from our lives. He gives a succinct list of things we must rid ourselves of.
2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. [2] He begins with the word “therefore.” This single word ties what he is saying in the following verses with what we said previously. Out of our great love for our brothers we must get rid of these stumbling blocks. We must make an intense, focused effort to be rid of them.
Finally, we hear Peter’s third challenge: Crave.
Peter uses the powerful analogy of a baby. Hang around a baby for long and you will hear it. They will be perfectly content and suddenly they are not. They are hungry. The adults around them need to move quickly. There is an extremely narrow window from the time they are hungry to the time they are wailing, demanding food now.
Such hunger should characterize believers. The subject of the hunger is clear. We must long for the pure, unadulterated word of God. The key word in this passage is simple, “crave.” Strongly desire it. Like the baby grabs the bottle, devouring its contents, so we must grab the Word. Confess today that you are hungry for His Word.
As you enter 2023 take these three challenges: Love Deeply, Get Rid of the Junk, and Crave the Word. No one can be hungry for you. No one can make you fill that empty spot in your stomach. It's your decision to make.
Mike Friesz is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. He can be reached by email at drmikefriesz@sbcglobal.net.
