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Genuine faith means being the real deal before God and man. Three aspects of faith will nudge us on to becoming believable believers. Firstly, faith must be aware of the state of our lives – that is, to “live your lives as strangers here” (1 Pet. 1:17). The idea is to think of ourselves as wayfarers on this earth, merely sojourning on our way home to glory. It is as if we are transit visitors enroute to catch the final flight home. Secondly, faith must be alert to the state of our minds – that is, to “prepare your minds for action” (1 Pet. 1:13). It is to realise that on our flight home to glory, we will encounter turbulences. To borrow from an exact English phrase from the dictionary, “gird up the loins of the mind” – get ready for difficulty. Faith, finally, mustact out God’s truths – that is, to obey God’s Word in its entirety, even in the face of difficulties and to “be holy in all you do” (1 Pet. 1:15) because God is holy.
Unlike what some people think, holiness is not a concept. It is measurable yardsticks for daily Christian living. After the Israelites had finally arrived in Canaan from wandering 40 years in the wilderness, God instructed Moses to give them Lev 19. Prefaced in verse1 is, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Then, Moses gave out those instructions for holy living (Lev. 19: 2-37), which include specifics like not holding back the wages of staff and leaving the edges of the vineyard unharvested so that the poor and the strangers may glean from it for their survival.
In today’s context, these measurable yardsticks in 1 Peter 1 have start and end points that we, as believers in God’s Word, must be in the mindset for. The start point is that we will “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Pet. 1:6). The end point is to “set your hope” on the day that Jesus Christ returns. In between, holiness dictates that it could be a shirker boss whom we must subject ourselves to without murmuring. Or, a difficult child or spouse whose hearts we must pray for to be opened to God. On the other hand, there will be many temptations we face. Preoccupations from overwork to the folly of desires not brought before God can cause us to be delayed at the boarding gate.
