Fervency and Urgency

1 Peter 1:22-25 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

We spoke previously of the expectation, as followers of Jesus, to love one another as Jesus loved us. Today, we will speak of the urgency of loving one another, as the Lord has commanded us to love. Peter reminds us over and over that our salvation was not cheap. It cost Jesus His life, and there is nothing here on earth that compares, or even comes close in value, to what Jesus gave in order to redeem us. Having the knowledge that such a great sacrifice was made on our behalf should drive us with an overwhelming desire to respond to Jesus with obedience, and a willingness to put forth the greatest effort to love the brethren as the Lord has commanded. Peter tells us that the urgency with which we do this comes from the fact that our life here on earth is fragile and short. As born again believers, our goal on earth, where we are strangers and pilgrims, is to live for what is eternal; that which will last forever. We are not called to live for the flesh, which withers and dies. No...we are called to live for God, in accordance with His Word, which will last forever, because it is eternal. The bottom line is that there is not much time left for us to win as many people to Christ as possible; and there is not much time to learn how to truly love one another with the kind of love that the Word of God describes. Let us love one another with fervency, and urgency, for there is much to do, but not much time to do it in.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).