Day one-hundred-eighty-five

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

- 1 Peter 1:3-9 (New International Version)

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I think every believer at some point is led to a particular passage in Scripture that speaks directly to some matter they're facing or some issue with which they're struggling. It happened to me today.

I began reading 2 Peter this morning, and chapter one includes the above passage. It penetrated right to the heart of an issue I've been struggling with, lately. The notes on this passage in the MacArthur Study Bible refer to the forgetfulness in verse nine as "spiritual amnesia". Lately, it seems like I've been struggling with more of the same old sins I've always struggled with. Not by coincidence, I've also seen opportunities for fellowship seem to fall by the wayside, or I fail to take advantage of them when they come.

I have found that when I draw away from fellowship, I also tend to draw away from the godly things I should be pursuing, as described in verses six and seven. I see so much of the same old sins arise in me, that trouble my spirit. I became clouded to the good things of God even as I was struggling to make sense of what was going on. I needed wisdom and understanding of what I was dealing with.

The obvious answer, now that I can look back with some perspective, was that I had in a sense forgotten the good things God had done to me and for me. I was struggling with whether God still cared for me when it was I who have failed to care as I ought to. I needed to see this clearly, like the passage above. I needed to see in no uncertain terms that it was I who had failed to heed The Lord, but that He still loved and cared for me.