Wed.'s Devo - Lay Aside 3-31-10
Read I Pet. 2:1-5
We are to lay aside all malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies and evil speakings which is understandable if we want to grow in the Lord, but what about all the malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies and evil speaking done to us? That is a little harder. Malice means bad, evil, depraved acts, trouble. What if you were abused as a child, or as an adult? What if you partner in business embezzled your profits and left you bankrupt? That's a little harder. Guile means a trick or deceit. What if you've been tricked into marrying the wrong person, buying a car that was a lemon, buying a house with structural problems? Can you lay that aside? Hypocrisy means to play a part. Maybe someone pretended to be your friend for alternative motives. Maybe you trusted a pastor who was a fraud. Envy means jealousy or spite. Maybe a relative was so jealous of your position in the family they tried to ruin your life. Evil speakings is defamation and backbiting. Have you ever made a big mistake and your friends couldn't forgive you, so they spoke behind your back and ruined your reputation. We have all had something like this happen to us and Peter tells us in one sentence to lay all this down. But he tells us how.
We are to desire the pure, deceitful, unadulterated milk of the word so that we can grow beyond all that. The Word is the opposite of malice, guile, etc. Through it we taste the Lord's graciousness and love. Just like Jesus was a living stone, rejected of men yet precious to God; we are living stones which together form an altar that can offer up acceptable spiritual sacrifices.
Lord, help us to lay down our sins and the sins done to us and desire your Word which can be a lamp to our walk and a light to our future.