The Stability of Our Joy
Staying Alert – Part I

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:13-25

Key Verse: John 16:22
“… then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”

We have been looking at the “Joy of the Lord” and Jesus’s statement that no one can rob you of it. When we are aware of the many promises that God has given us, we can enjoy life even with its troubles, if we control our minds.

The Apostle Peter put it this way:

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. (1 Peter 1:13).

Peter says we are to stay alert to the grace of God (His unmerited favor).

If you think about it, I am sure you can realize how easy it is to feel the need to earn God’s favor. The moment we go down that road of earning God’s love and salvation, we lose our joy. One might say “no one took it from us; we gave it away when our minds strayed from truth”.

We must never lose track of the fact that no one can live a perfectly righteous life, what entrance into heaven demands.

Our joy relates directly to what we are thinking in our minds!

Are you “alert and fully sober” when it comes to God’s grace to you? The word “sober” means to “make or become more serious, sensible, and solemn”.

My parents raised me in a Christian home, took me to Sunday School and church from birth, and I have pastored churches for over 40 years. With this kind of history, you would think that being alert and sober about my walk with God would come super easy.

However, it is just the opposite. I work just as hard today, or even harder, to keep my mind where I want it to be! The New Testament has no mention of us earning our salvation, but it has many references of how we must be active in growing our knowledge and joy in the Lord.

Father, I want to keep my joy that comes from walking with you. Please remind me often to stay alert and sober so I can keep my joy going and growing. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.