May 25
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THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER
22 Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been
born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY IS LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.” And this is the word which was preached to you. – 1 Peter 1:22-25
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In this letter, Peter emphasizes the only thing that will last forever: God’s Word. In verse 22, he tells the believers that the believers’ souls are purified when they are obedient to truth and they have a fervent and genuine love for other brothers and sisters in Christ. In verse 23, Peter gives all believers the reason why we need to be purified. He says that because we have been born again from a seed that is never-ending: the living and enduring word of God.
In verse 24-25 Peter likens the flesh to grass. The flesh can grow like grass. It can reach a certain height and produces flowers. But after a while, it withers and the flowers fall off. Peter is giving us an illustration of how humans are. As we go through different stages of our lives, we can grow and bloom like the flowers of the grass. But it can also wilt and die as the bloom dies down and fall off. Just like our lives, we can reach a point where we can blossom into the beautiful person that we were made from, but that isn’t permanent. In verse 25, Peter brings us to the main focus of this letter to all believers: the word of the Lord lasts forever and is permanent.
In this world, everything goes to an end, but Peter stresses the only thing that is eternal: Scriptures. Can you imagine a world without the word of God? How would that look like? We will probably just do what we want and what would benefit us, wouldn’t we? We would probably be a world full of competition and would not know how to temper or regulate our cravings and desires. Without the word of God, we will be in total darkness or confusion and perhaps too much conflicts. Without the word of God, we will only rely on ourselves to figure out things. Without it, we will be guessing or presuming or assuming. It would be full of uncertainty and complaints. Everything would be unclear and hazy. We would have no life and purpose. This is why Peter couldn’t let us perish without meditating and preaching the word of God.
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REFLECTION
• How has the Word of God been your life’s guiding force and navigating tool?