How do we walk carefully with God today?
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I’ve taught Bible for a LOT of years, and I continue to be amazed at the newness of the ancient words. The Bible is a book like no other because its Author is the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator God. There is a reason the Bible is a best-seller every year.
The Bible tells us everything we need to know God and truly understand ourselves. Scripture teaches us how to become children of God and live with his Presence now and one day, eternally in his Presence in heaven.
One Sunday, I followed along in my Bible as our pastor led us through a passage. We read a verse that I have read and taught many times. My eyes were drawn to the verb, and my thoughts were brand new. Then, as I was preparing to teach, that same verb presented itself again. The idea for this blog post soon followed.
As I sit here, you probably know something I cannot know today. When you read these words, you will likely know who won the election and who will be president of the United States for the next four years.
Many news programs will discuss the “differences” between our nation’s people. The Bible teaches us that every person born in this world has one need in common: We all need to know God and draw close to his Presence. The best way to do that is to understand why Peter and others chose to use the verb “abstain.”
We all have an important choice to make today
Sunday morning, the sermon addressed the various divisions politics can cause in our culture today. Those divisions exist in people’s homes, jobs, friendships, and social settings. It’s the day after the election. How are you feeling about the results? As you walk past people today, what might you say if people feel differently about it than you do?
As the congregation read through 1 Peter 2, we discussed that our highest calling as Christians is not politics. Instead, our highest calling is to lead people to a knowledge of God and his power to save their souls. Peter told his fellow Christians and us today, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:11–12 NIV).
According to Peter, we have a high calling for this day after the election. Your candidate may have won or lost, yet our high calling as Christians remains the same. The most important message you will speak today is the sermon your choices will preach. As people study your life today, will they see a Democrat or Republican or good deeds done by someone whose life glorifies God? Whoever won the election, we are still going to be “aliens and strangers” in this world.
Our highest calling today is to “abstain from sinful desires” because they are at war with our souls.
Today, Christians from all around this country are wanting to gloat, complain, celebrate, or be depressed. God’s children can be Democrats or Republicans. Regardless of which candidate won, a lot of people are happy, and a lot are upset. Maybe we need to “abstain” from our personal feelings today and remember we have a higher calling from God. The way we converse and react with those around us will either display our lives as “pagan” like the world or as children of God who are “aliens and strangers” on this planet.
Why did Peter use the word abstain?
A good article I read said that biblically, the word abstain “comes from the Greek word apecho, which means to deliberately withdraw from, stay away from, or put distance between oneself and something else.” To abstain from something means to make a deliberate choice for a higher purpose.
I’d often heard the word used as part of fasting. A person “abstains” from food to hunger for God. People “abstain” from alcohol to always keep their minds clear, listen for God’s voice, and be ready to serve him at their best.
So, when Peter said, “abstain” from sinful desires, he was saying to avoid those desires, put them entirely out of mind, and put distance between us and those things that might be sinful. What is the end result of this abstinence? Our souls aren’t at war with what we might desire and what God desires for us.
What did Paul teach?
Paul had to defend the faith in many of the churches he started. As soon as Paul left and moved on, others, like the Judaizers, began to attack the original gospel message that Paul taught using their own thoughts, ideas, and values. Paul’s letters were often written to keep the new Christians, often from Gentile backgrounds, from being misled.
Paul wrote his letter to the mostly Gentile church in Thessaloniki, saying, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–4).
Paul often taught these new Christians how to live in a Gentile culture with Christian values. He, too, used the verb “abstain” so that they would understand God’s will for their sanctification. We are made holy, “sanctified,” when we abstain from the sins of this world, especially the sins the world understands, accepts, or even rewards.
What will you need to abstain from today?
Are there conversations you will need to avoid or walk away from? Are there conversations you can redirect to a higher message? Are there people who don’t understand your vote who will be surprised to learn you want to understand theirs?
Today can take many different directions. Why not abstain from some of those directions so that we can point people in the direction of God’s higher goals for this country and for our lives?
Matthew Henry was a well-known theologian who lived from 1662 to 1714. He once said, “Men’s neglect of God’s commands in smaller matters often leads to their disobedience in greater matters.” Let’s remember not to think of the jokes, complaints, and conversations we are around today as “smaller matters.” I hope it is a good day today because it is a day we have decided to live carefully and obediently with God and allowed his highest calling in our lives to matter most.
You probably know who won the election and who lost. More importantly, you know the One that needs to win every moment of this day and each day to come.
