“For, “THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS,
MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. “HE MUST TURN
AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. “FOR THE EYES OF
THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE
FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.” (1 Peter 3:10–12, NASB95)
One thing I like about the New American Standard
translation, besides it accuracy which is paramount, is that it puts Old Testament
quotes in small caps. This makes it very easy for me to spot them. And, I like
the margin notes and superscript letters because it helps me find where the
quote likely originated, which today is from Psalm 34:12-16. “Who is the man
who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your
tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do
good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord
are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off
the memory of them from the earth.” (Psalm 34:12–16, NASB95)
Peter transitions from verse 9 into the quote from Psalm 34
with the simple little conjunction “for.” A conjunction is a word that connects
two clauses or sentences. The intended blessing of verse 9 is connected with
the conditions of the blessing in verses 10-12. In verse 9 we told that we are
called for a blessing and that we are to respond differently than the world
responds to evil or harsh speech and actions by returning a blessing in the
face of a curse. In Psalm 34 we have the words that distinguish the person who
desires the life found in God from those who fly by the seat of their flesh.
Simply put, God pays attention to those who seek after Him and who live
according to His ways. His face is turned against those who turn their face
toward evil. God is pleased with those who seek peace and pursue it. His eyes
are turned to those whose seek to live righteous before Him, and He hears their
cries in their distress. God is opposed to evil, and He is the ultimate judge
of it. These are truths that, as Christians, I think we all probably grasp at
some level. But, it is in the moment by moment choosing to apply them that we
tend to struggle.
Scripture lays out a consistent model for change toward
godly behavior. It is a simple one, and it involves three steps of putting off,
having our mind renewed, and putting on. Not one of these is intended to be
done in our own strength, but in the constant recognition that God’s Spirit is
living and working in us because of the change that occurs when we trust Christ
for our salvation. Immediately we became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17),
and it is from then on that we are called to walk as one. In Ephesians 4:17-19
we read about the way we once were before we came to know Christ. It is the way
the rest of the world is apart from Him. We read in verses 17 and 18 that they
walk in “the futility of their minds” because they are darkened in their
understanding and alienated from God. Verse 20 then points to a time of change,
which was coming to know Chris. Then comes our call to walk in the way that we
have learned Christ, presuming that we have indeed come to know Christ (v. 21).
It is from this that we read in verses 22-24, “that, in reference to your
former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in
with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in
righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22–24, NASB95)
Having come to know Christ leading to salvation, we are to
continually grow in Christ having been saved. As we hide God’s Word in our
hearts, we are to engage in the process of shedding the old ways and putting on
the new ways through the power of the Spirit working in us. “But I say, walk by
the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians
5:16, NASB95) It was with this constant recognition that the apostle Paul
walked and served as we read in Colossians 1:29, “For this purpose also I
labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
(Colossians 1:29, NASB95)
So, getting back to our passage for today, we read that in
recognition of the life that we have in Christ we are to live with the desire
for that life lived daily present in our minds. We are to love God and others.
Desiring to see good exalted in our days, we are to be examples of God’s goodness
to those around us. Practically speaking, if we want to experience life, love,
and goodness we are to live as people who are alive, who love unconditionally
and who do good. We are not to resort to the ways of the world to get even with
the world. All that does is drag us down to the world’s level and distort the
image of Christ in us.
This means that we are to not speak words that promote or
exalt evil. We are not to lie or deceive others. We are to turn away from all
these things. We are to, in the words of Paul, lay them aside. This is not how
we learned Christ. This is not who we are in Christ, and we are not to live as
if it were. It is not okay. It is not to be our justified response to the evil
set before us. We have been made new, and we are to take what we have learned
about living as new creations and apply it to our daily lives. We are to put on
Christ which means that we are to live the reality of who we are in Christ,
just as we have learned about how He walked before us. We are to learn about
our God and live in active response to what we know is right and good.
We are to turn away from evil and do good. We are to seek
peace and pursue it. God knows everything we face. He knows the condition of
the world, and He has perfectly figured out what He is going to do in response.
He hears our cries, and He will answer. But, we shouldn’t expect Him to answer
if we are unwilling to seek Him and do it His way.
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But
he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the
surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to
expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory
in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because
like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind
and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its
appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will
fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to
those who love Him.” (James 1:5–12, NASB95)
Our God is a God of blessing and He delights in it. What He
calls us to do is to seek Him, trust Him to work, and walk accordingly as the blessed
ones we are, blessings others reflecting that He indeed is good.
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