Monday: Life is short, we need to decide what matters most. What do you treasure?
Tuesday: Good is what drives us to choose things. The issue is whether we treasure the Source of good. God is the treasure from whom all lasting treasures come. Treasure God.
Wednesday: Treasuring God starts with simple faith (confidence, trust). Trusting that in his goodness, revealed in the person and work of Christ, he has accepted us into his family, we now ought to diligently seek to grow up in understanding and applying his goodness.
2 Peter 1:5-15 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, (6) and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, (7) and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (8) For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
(10) Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (11) For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (12) Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. (13) I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, (14) since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. (15) And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
Notice that FAITH is first. Salvation is by grace through faith in who God is and what he has done for us.
Having been saved from trying to live for ourselves, how do we live for God? We do so diligently.
Faith is believing that God is our treasure, and that all lasting goodness comes from him. So, we build on that by acquiring a delight in goodness.
make every effort to add = haste, top priority, seek ye first, etc. time and resources (energy, focus, money, status… whatever)
Virtue = what the soul was made for… goodness, wholesomeness… rightness (which is better than wrongness)
Knowledge = interactive relationship; doing good because God is good helps you to personally know God in real ways
Self-control= ability not to fall for what seems good but isn't
Steadfastness = patient endurance
Godliness = familiarity with God
Brotherly affection = real appreciation of people, seeing them from God's perspective (e.g. redeemable)
Love = empowered to do great acts of sacrifice without having to think about it
I'll explain more tomorrow ;-)
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