On Monday, I mentioned that
as a class assignment I was asked to choose a life verse. I listed some of the
verses that others had chosen, and some of you responded by asking what verse I
had chosen.
I will confess that I had
difficulty with this assignment. The Bible is full of guidance and comfort, and
I have a hard time choosing one verse and fashioning my life around it. There
have been instances in Christian culture where someone wrote a book about one
verse or concept that swept through the community like wildfire (think, Prayer
of Jabez or The Shack). People jump on a bandwagon, there is a lot of press and
buzz, and then its over and gone. While I am not saying there is anything wrong
with these books or movements, we do better to build our lives on the whole of
scripture, rather than on one verse or passage that is often taken out of
context.
That being said, I love the
Word of God. I love studying it, praying it, and holding it close. While it was
difficult to narrow it down to just one, the verse that I seem to come back to
over and over again in my life is 2
Peter 1:3-4:
His
divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Through these
He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that you
may participate in the divine nature, and escape the corruption in the world
caused by evil desires.
He has given us everything we
need for life and godliness. Not, he will
give, but he HAS given. Rather than exist in death and defeat, we have been
given everything we need for life. We have this through knowledge of him.
Not only that, but because of
his glory and excellence we also have his promises. Simply because of who he
is, we can trust his words and have confidence in the future he promised. We
can believe the rest of scripture because of the nature of Jesus. We can have complete confidence in the written Word because
of the Word that spoke.
As if that isn’t enough, by
believing in these promises, we participate
in the divine nature. God lives within us, remakes us into the likeness of
his Son, letting us become like him. Rather than live in slavery to sin, we can
escape by being like Jesus.
These two verses overwhelm
me. I have been given everything I will ever need to be a participant in the
nature of the God who is holy, who is Creator, who is Savior. I am also left without excuse. God has
given me everything I need. It is up to me to get to know him, to know his
nature. I can only do that in relationship with him, through prayer and study
of the Bible. He has granted me the promises, and it is up to me to know what
they are.
This was not one of the more popular life
verses chosen by my class. Its not one of the more well-loved passages that are
quoted so often by long time believers. For me, it is the heart of the gospel.
Because of Jesus, I have everything.
