... In With the New - 1 Peter 1:13-23 Sermon

Where do we go to make the truly important decisions in life? Cemeteries, where we are confronted with our limited time on earth? Trash day, when the streets are lined with things our neighbors, and we once thought were so important? Jesus teaches us to store up treasure in heaven because of our human trait of often pursuing what is ultimately worthless and so ignoring what is eternal. This passage from 1st Peter calls us to live in light of God’s eternal purposes, freed from our previous shortsighted and selfish past. Jesus reveals true value through his love for sinners, his humility, his cross, and his resurrection. As we set our hope fully on the grace he brings, we are freed from futile living and transformed from self-centeredness to love, from pride to humility, and from temporary priorities to lives shaped by the living and enduring Word of God.