For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.”
Summary: Peter quotes Psalm 34 to emphasize his point that we are called to repay evil with a blessing.
I have been associated with the Christian faith for most of my life. As a person who has a strong craving to understand how things work, I have questioned almost every aspect of my life, including my faith.
Over the past two years, blogging about the Gospel of John, the Book of James, the Book of Jude, and now Peter’s first letter, I have been exposed to a different perspective on God’s will for us than I have ever seen before.
Raised a Lutheran, I was steeped in the idea that Christians are saved by faith alone. I remember a discussion from a Bible study class at one church we attended. The topic turned to faith and works. One person told me that it was best not to even try and do good works because it might look like we were trying to “earn” our salvation.
As we have worked through Scripture at the slow pace we travel here, I am amazed at the insights God has tucked into his Word. Yesterday’s meditation is one of those treasures. Today’s passage restates the message in verse 9 with a passage from Psalm 34.
The passage begins with “Whoever would love life…”
What is meant here? Both Genesis 3 and John 3 talks about life in two ways; spiritual and physical. Which way was David intending when he wrote his psalm? It seems to me to be inconsistent with scripture to assume the “life” David is thinking of is one that satisfies the flesh. He must be thinking of true life, spiritual life, life with God. If that is the case, then the “good days” he talks about are days spent with God, whether in this life or the next.
So what then does the passage say?
Whoever loves true life with God and wants to see good days with God, they must turn from evil and do good.
Does this mean a person is saved by their good works? No. What it means is what James is so keen that we should understand:
“You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” (James 2:20)
Do you love life and want to see good days? Do you think the way to get there is to sit on your hands and claim to have faith?
For, ”Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.”
Application: Take Peter’s words seriously. A lot depends on it.
Food for Thought: What does it mean to ”pursue” peace?
According to Strong’s concordance, the word for “pursue“ means to chase after like a hunter hunting down a prey. It is an aggressive pursuit of something. In this case, peace.
When I think of aggressively pursuing peace, I think of being an active participant. I am not just hoping that peace comes my way, I am not simply living life hoping peace finds me- I am pursuing it in my relationship with God and others.
Jesus says that He gives us true peace. Peace in the Greek is similar to the Hebrew shalom. It is not simply an absence of conflict, It is a wholeness and well being of soul. This kind of peace comes from God. To pursue this kind of peace is impossible without also pursuing God Himself.
According to John 14: 27, Jesus gives us this peace. Due to this peace with God, we do not need to be afraid or troubled. It overcomes the chaos and turmoil of the world. This kind of peace is needed today more than ever. The world does not have it. Jesus does. Pursue Him and peace is a byproduct. When Jesus rose from the dead, He greeted His disciples by saying, “peace be with you.” He gives us peace.
Later, Peter closes his book by saying “peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus.” Being in Christ Jesus offers peace. As we pursue Him peace will be ours more and more.
One other thought… this peace does not mean there is no storm. It s peace in the storm. It is the kind of peace that one means when they say “my soul is at peace.” That is normally stated during hardship. It is the peace that during hardship and loss states, as Horacio Spafford once penned, “it is well, it is well, with my soul.”
Thank you, Rich!
I especially appreciate the distinction between having peace from the storm, and peace in the storm!
It is one thing that I want now I have had a loud life full of bad stuff. Now I just want a quite and peaceful life.
Tim,
Thanks for sharing your heart for peace! I think a lot of us share your desire for a quiet and peaceful life.
I don’t know that there is much more to add than what hasn’t already been said. Pursue is an active verb. It doesn’t mean to stand by and hope for the best. My favorite quote of all time (and forgive me if I’m repeating myself) is: “People can either be better or worse for having met you. They might as well be better.” For me, this is true whether they love or hate me. I want others to see Him in me, instead of someone seeing a hypocrite (a person claiming to know Jesus, but instead contributing to the evil and discontent of the world).
As Rich also pointed out, it’s a certain feeling that comes over you during times of trials as well. I remember sitting in the ER a few years ago with my mom. It was visit number I don’t know how many in a matter of two weeks and I had missed a lot of work. In the past, this would have stressed me out. The entire combination – mom in hospital, single parent missing work, how am I going to manage my dad w/Alzheimer’s while mom is in the hospital, etc. I distinctly remember sitting in the chair and suddenly realizing I wasn’t stressed out, but rather at peace. I knew He had the situation (just as He’s had every situation in my life). The overwhelming sense of peace has not left me.
Pursuing peace is actively being in the Word. It’s actively seeking time w/ Him. It’s actively choosing each moment whether or not to participate in responding with kindness or evil to every situation.
And as I opened up my other devotional today, the verse was:
“I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 What a nice Godincidence today! =)
Darla,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts today and your “Godincidence!” I have been struck by the same choice. I can choose to focus on all of the “rumors of war” or I can choose to focus on the God of Peace.
I think you added quite a bit of excellent content Darla. Thank you!
And thank you Jeff for another great devotion and another very thoughtful, intriguing question.
Thank you, Rich!
I appreciate the thoughts you shared and the encouragement!!
What does it mean to ”pursue” peace?
Christ gives peace and reconciliation with God to all who will repent and humbly accept Him. Christ in each of us is the peace of God which passes all understanding. Christ has made us free from the chains of sin, the attractions of this world which would tempt our flesh. We can only receive, live in this freedom to the degree we reject the desires of our flesh, and pursue our gift from God.
How do we pursue peace?
Well we all know how to pursue the desires of our flesh. It’s pretty simple, give it a high priority, and make whatever sacrifices we need to make to get what we want. Some will sell all they have to live in the streets as they pursue the desires of their flesh which come in a needle.
Believers have been given a new heart, the Holy Spirit of God to teach and empower us to live in the will of God. Jesus has made the sacrifice, paid the full price for this gift of peace. So what’s the catch, what holds us back? To receive peace, we must give it a high priority and give time to God.
This often comes up in my Bible study groups, and I put the question to the men. “How many of you freely give 10% of your time to God each day?” Thats 2.4 hours a day, if we deduct time for sleeping, we have 1.6 hours each day. Not many hands go up. A mens bible study group and very few give God 1.6 hours each day.
We pursue peace by seeking to grow in our relationship with God! Spent time with God. We strive to give 10% of our income to God each week. Try giving God 10% of your time each day, this has a far greater value to God than our money, the time will have eternal value and be more refreshing than anything this world has to offer. This will become easier over time and in fact you will find the time growing to 15, 20, 25% or more over time. And we find sharing our peace with others to also be refreshing.
Ephesians 2:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Colossians 3:15, Philippians 4:7, John 6:50-71
Ron,
Thank you for the emphasis on devoting time to be with our Lord. That is such an important point. That just leaves me with one question: Does blogging about the Bible count? 🙂
BTW – I have included a link to look up the passages you provided references for. They are all excellent!
Hahahahahah!
We’ll let God figure out what counts. I know it is a pleasure!
Ron
Well pursuing peace certainly doesn’t come in the form of sending our men and women off to war,..it certainly doesn’t come in the form of protesting and rioting in the streets,..
Peace only comes in the form of a man, and His name is Jesus Christ,..
Ron,..I probably only get in maybe an hour to an hour and half over the course of the day that I give to God in prayer, devotion and reading His word,..working on drawing closer to God each and every day,..thanks for the statistics,..
Thanks for the feedback John. You don’t punch a clock or keep track of your time. Your a 24/7 Christian and I know you will drop everything to speak to others about our Lord when He brings them to you. I am not trying to set up rules, just an example of what we all know. God draws us to Him and what grows out of this is a lot, not because we are good but because being with God, doing His will is where we are the happiest. Serving God gives us purpose in this asylum often being run by the inmates.
Ron,
Thanks for the clarification! It is so easy to fall into the “rules” trap as you mention. John’s ministry is unique to the way God made John. It is the same for all of us. I like your point that aside from our ministry functions, we are drawn to spend more time with our God because that is where we are happiest. So true!
John,
Isn’t it amazing how that “man” we call Jesus is able to change our lives and change how we see the world. True peace is not the lack of war, true peace is knowing God. Thank you!
Thank you all. Reading all your comments make me smile and feel peaceful in his grace.
Pursuing peace can be exhausting. It’s hard not to fight back, but the battle belongs to the Lord.
Rob,
Nice to hear from you! What you say is very true. We are called to battle for what is right. Thankfully, as you point out, we are not alone!
👍🏻