Today as I read from I Peter 1:23, I gained further evidence
that this “expectant” attitude is what God desires from each of His family
members. This verse declares that “You have been born again, not from a seed
that can be destroyed, but through God’s everlasting word that can’t be
destroyed.” (God’s Word ©) The King James Version says it is a word “which liveth and abideth forever.” And this is where it gets exciting…
Thayer defines the Greek meaning for “liveth” as “to live, breath
and be among the living (not lifeless).
Active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God. Having vital power in itself and exerting the
same upon the soul.” In the original
language Strong’s says that “abideth”
means “to stay (in a given place, state,
relation or expectancy).”
That tells me that the living Word itself contains an expectancy
of the goodness and power of God in every scripture! That’s why it encourages us when we read
it. That’s why it sheds light and life
into any and every situation. That’s why
the one who trusts in it can be expectant of good things eventually
happening in the midst of even the toughest of life’s situations and trials!
I had the thought this morning of how the Word in this
context, is similar to our dog Mandie when we are out for a walk. She may be nine years old, but she has the
energy and attitude of a three year old!
Whenever she sees a person or another dog walking ahead of us she will
begin to pull the lease as she strains to get to them! It gets a little crazy at times when we are
on a downward slope or getting too near the edge of the sidewalk as I have to
fight to restrain her and keep my wife’s chair from going over!
I kind of lost that battle the other day! We were walking along the lake when we were
passed by two ladies with a small terrier.
Of course, both dogs wanted to greet each other and were pulling to get
close to each other. It was a funny experience,
so when one of the ladies asked if it was okay to do so, I turned and let go of
my wife’s chair for a moment and began to walk Mandie up to the other dog. Well, I didn’t realize that there was a
slight slope to the sidewalk and as soon as I let go of the chair it turned and
before I knew it, one wheel went off the sidewalk. Thankfully one of the ladies gasped which got
my attention and I was able to spin around quickly enough to catch Piper before
she slide completely out of the chair!
The ladies were nice enough to take Mandie and pull the transport chair
back so I could help Piper back into her seat.
Talk about feeling foolish! The
one piece of advice that an older gentleman told me about living through my
wife’s situation which was “to let go of
all your pride,” once again came true that day!
But back to the Word… That eagerness or expectation demonstrated
by our pulling dog to greet someone and/or their dog walking ahead of us is the
same type of expectation that the Word must have! It is like it becomes so excited, so expectant
of the goodness of God that it tugs on our hearts to get out and be activated
by our faith in order to work in and for us!
Remember that God’s Word is no ordinary word. According to our scripture (and many others) it is alive, breathing
and active. Once that expectancy
gets released in us, we can’t help but to be expectant of the truth,
power, grace and love of God working as we believe it and act upon it!
The expectancy inherent in His Word
should cause us to be expectant
and to live our lives in such a way as to demonstrate that expectancy in everything
we do and say! I would have to say that
being a Christian is anything but
dull and boring… So I would encourage
you to go out and spread that God inspired, God given expectancy to your world
today! Believe in His best and let Him do the rest. Have a great end of the week. Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking
yourself… “What am I EXPECTING today?”
Thanks for the encouragement.
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