12/01/2024

Read: 1 Peter 1:13 - “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ...”

Reflect:  God’s grace is His unmerited favor upon us as His children. We have done nothing deserving of this favor, nor have we done anything to manifest this grace for ourselves. We had nothing to do with the grace given to us in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection; likewise, we will have nothing to do with the grace bestowed upon us at His second coming. And this is the singular cause for our hope. If my hope were to rest upon my own strength, deeds, or character, it would quickly fail me and not be a hope at all. But the fact that I can fully rest my hope upon the Lord’s grace and His promise to return bolsters my hope so much more. And that word “fully” is important. It doesn’t say to put some hope in one thing (whether that be myself, my church, my works) and some in the Lord. My hope must be fully rested on the grace that has been given and the grace that is to come. Our lives are bookended -- surrounded on both sides, beginning to end -- with the grace of God. I can live my life in the hope that God’s grace will never fail to uphold me.

Respond: Go now to the Lord in prayer and thank Him for His grace upon your life. The grace that is and the grace that is to come. Ask Him to bring to mind if there is any other thing upon which you are resting your hope. Cast that thing before the Lord and recommit your hopes to Him and His grace alone.