You have got to be kidding. Read 1 Peter once a week for the whole year? That sounds like schoolwork! I am not kidding, nor assigning work, but encouraging you to take a walk along the Emmaus Road with the Risen Lord!

Let's go for a walk! We often cover the same ground but what is different is our day, our challenges, our joys. Some flowers have grown (and some weeds), someone has left litter or raked, someone's house is locked up or the doors are open. We might see some new ducklings at the lake and watch them grow. We might start to recognize the dogs that pass us if we walk at the same time each day. Walk a path long enough and it gets familiar and comfortable.

That is what I am suggesting for us. Take a walk with your Lord, so HE can talk to you. Instead of some grand scheme of reading the whole Bible in the year, get familiar with a little patch. The Scriptures come from the Holy Spirit, with our section for this year spoken through Peter. I ENCOURAGE you to go for a walk with your Lord.

1 Peter 1:13-25 reminds us that we are different by grace than by nature. By nature we are curved in on ignorance, but by grace we are made to be holy people in all we do, living lives that honor our God and Savior. We are delivered from lives that are just marking time to those that look forward to eternity and celebrate God's promises even now.

We all can recognize the next part: We were ransomed from futile ways not with gold or silver but with the precious blood of Christ. Our joy and peace is at a price, the price of God turning his wrath inward to pour his grace outward, onto us. We are perishable by nature but eternal by grace. The Word of the Lord, which we are encouraged to hear from our Lord again and again, will last forever. That Word tells us that we are forgiven and whole and watched over. It tells us that when that Word touches a heart, the heart is healed. The Word helps us find those gentle words to share with others.

So I encourage you again to take a weekly walk with the Lord by reading 1 Peter. Dawdle, do a little each day, all at once, and listen, listen God is calling to you and me! May your heart burn with joy as you walk with Him on your journey home and take others along with you! Find the copy from last month's newsletter and make it your friend!

In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp