For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ~ 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)
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Peter spends a fair amount of time talking about perishable vs. imperishable in the first chapter of this book, as it pertains to our imperishable eternal life (vs. 4), perishable gold (vs. 7), our imperishable reborn spirits (vs. 23), the imperishable word of God (vs. 25), and the imperishable Jesus, who redeemed us on the cross. Not redeemed with the perishable, but the imperishable...
I'm thinking that the people in the churches Peter was writing to ("To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia...") needed some encouragement in the imperishable things in their lives. They had been scattered, fleeing from their homes, jobs and families. Perhaps they didn't even stay in the same place from night to night, running from their persecutors. Life was very tenuous and unstable, perishable. Peter reminds them of the imperishable things they have in God to give them hope when life is crumbling all around them, like a perishable sand castle that meets a wave.
Our lives can feel like that today, too. Our bad economy has reminded us of how perishable our world really is. Job? Gone. Home? Gone. Savings... what's that? Gas prices skyrocketed last summer, and our lives came to a perishably screeching halt ; hence, the new banned word that I actually like, "staycation" --vacations perished like old citrus fruit. (Kinda funny, now that gas prices have miraculously [can anyone explain it?] fallen to a 5-yr low, those dinky "Smart" cars look like a joke, huh? All scrunched up like they fell prey to a trash compactor....but we weren't laughing when they were getting mega miles per gallon...)
Everything around us is perishing. Peace talks and shaky peace agreements perish into ground-shaking, mortal war between nations. Devastating floods and winter storms destroy crops in a perishing heartbeat. Illegal drugs lead so many lives down into a slow, agonizing death spiral -- perishing, and dragging others down with them. Hopelessness can rise like a tidal wave when we look at this world and the mess sin has made. But let us not forget the imperishable...
God Himself is imperishable -- that's why, when men killed Jesus (God become man) on the cross, He simply couldn't stay in the tomb! And if we are believers in Jesus, redeemed by the blood of the imperishable Lamb of God, we are ourselves imperishable -- our spirits have been reborn from death to eternal life! And what God has prepared for us in eternity with Him, living in the presence of our God where sin has no place, is imperishable! How can we not shout a loud "AMEN" to that?!?
If you have ever read testimonies of the martyrs through history, you will find that they latched onto hope in the imperishable, and it transformed their thinking. They talked like David did...
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? ~ Psalm 56:4 (NIV)
They lost their fear of the perishable of this world, and allowed the light of the imperishable God and His kingdom to fill them with hope. And that hope gave them courage to stand against the tide. Their lives were no longer sand castles in the surf, but fortresses of faith.
As we see the waves of uncertainty coming up the shores of our lives, I pray we can remember, with hope, the imperishable foundation we have in Jesus Christ and the amazing imperishable future we have with Him. Nothing can destroy that which Jesus has redeemed for Himself. Nothing. So take hope today when you are tempted to become discouraged at world events or your own life circumstances, because the Living God is on His throne and eternal, imperishable victory is already won. Hallelujah!
Love,
Joelene
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