This is a funny message from a gravestone.
Remember me as you pass by; As you are now so once was I. As I am now, so you must be. Therefore, prepare to follow me. Underneath these lines someone wrote in blue paint: To follow you I’m not content Unless I knew which way you went.
What message will you leave behind for your family and friends when you are gone? What message are we preaching with our lives now? In that we are epistles (letters known and read of all men), you would think that we should be more conscious as to how others read our daily mail. What does the front and back page story of your life read like a soap opera or a Christian novel?
Which way are you going on the journey of life? This could be the pattern for us all to follow. Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
A MESSAGE FROM THE MESSAGE, 1 Peter 1:18-2:20: Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,
The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, God’s Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you. So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy, and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God. Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent: Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it. To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him, The stone the workmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone. The stone the workmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone. For the untrusting it’s a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way. They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted. Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a
danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.
What Message are we preaching with our lives, knowing that actions speak louder than words?
I believe in you,
Pastor Cleddie Keith